Real Eyes
by kao-dreams
Summary: After bathing one day, Suigetsu brings a demon child back to camp. Her useful abilities make Sasuke agree to keeping her, but later he discovers that she's much more than just useful. Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, later Sasuke x OC romance.
1. Here and Gone

**Chapter 1: Here and Gone**

"And your first thought was, I should keep her?" Sasuke asked incredulously after hearing Suigetsu's ridiculous story. It was their day off so everyone had gone their separate ways to eat, bathe, shop, or whatever they wanted to do. Suigetsu had wandered off to a hot spring and found himself in a strange situation as the new caretaker of a young girl.

"She was obviously abandoned," he protested. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Leave her!" Sasuke growled. "She'll only slow us down."

"Can you really say no to this face?" Suigetsu asked innocently, holding up the girl to his leader.

She was dressed in a t-shirt with a teddy bear on its front and her blonde hair reached her hips. Part of her hair was tied up into two buns, one on either side of her head. Her huge, childish eyes were a honey brown color that peered out from behind her bangs. The girl suddenly held out her arm with two fingers up in a peace sign and grinned.

"Please take care of me!" she said enthusiastically.

"No." Sasuke's answer was without hesitation as he scrunched his nose up in annoyance.

Suigetsu pulled the girl in and hugged her, leaning his cheek on hers. "Please?" they both begged in unison.

His leader's face turned into one of horror. "Don't get so close to her," he snapped. "That's practically child molestation."

The water ninja blinked. Sasuke's voice had a hint of something like… concern? He cared about the girl? Well, of course, it was natural for anyone to worry about a young child, but he didn't know if Sasuke was capable of such a thing anymore. "You take her, then," Suigetsu suggested slyly. "If you think I shouldn't watch over her, maybe you…"

"Hell no," he said flatly.

"What's going on here?" Karin asked, pushing her way through a thicket of thorny bushes to their camp. She hissed at the thorns that cut her thighs and arms, but froze instantly when she set her eyes upon the girl.

"She's mine," Suigetsu asserted instantly.

Karin snorted. "What are you talking about? I bet you stole her off the street. You should give her back to her parents," she reprimanded.

"Parents?" the girl repeated in confusion, tilting her head.

Suigetsu and Karin exchanged a glance. He placed the little girl on the ground and the two adults crouched in front of her. "What's your name?" Karin asked first.

"Maya."

"Maya-chan, where are your parents?"

Maya shook her head. "Not here."

"See," Suigetsu grinned triumphantly. "I found her in the hot spring. The owner said she didn't see anyone go in with kids, so the girl was probably lost. But Maya-chan told me to take her home."

"Didn't she mean her home?" Karin retorted skeptically.

Maya shook her head vigorously. "No! I felt his strength," she told them earnestly, turning her eyes to Sasuke. The Uchiha boy stared at her out of the corner of his eye, not amused. "I could smell his strength on Suigetsu."

"A type of tracker?" Karin wondered aloud.

None of them could understand what Maya meant, but she just stood there pulling on her teddy bear t-shirt and smiling innocently as if what she said made perfect sense. Sasuke pretended to be uninterested, but quietly kept his distance and listened to them continue asking her questions.

"Are you an orphan, then?"

Maya shrugged.

The water ninja cast a glance at Karin, then asked, "Are they dead?"

"No." She stared him in the eyes, almost making him uneasy. "I just want to stay with you. Can I?"

"Come on, Sasuke," Karin called to him, standing up. She brushed off her knees and went to confront him. "It's not like she has anywhere to go. And maybe that 'smelling your strength' deal is some sort of tracking that she's not aware of yet. She might be useful."

"She's a child," Sasuke said without taking his eyes off the fire he was starting. "She will slow us down no matter what."

A small pop sounded and suddenly a puff of smoke appeared where Maya had been. Karin's eyes went huge. "Sui, what did you do?" she shouted, rushing over.

Suigetsu was coughing and backing up, yelling back, "I didn't do anything! She was watching you guys talk and then this!"

Unable to control his curiosity, Sasuke turned around and blew the smoke away, revealing a small squirrel-like animal crawling out from Maya's teddy bear shirt. It chattered for a second and then Maya's voice came from its mouth.

"See?" the squirrel exclaimed. "I won't slow you down! Please, take me with you."

For the first time in a while, Sasuke was surprised, but he didn't let it show. He looked down at her in contempt. "Why are you willing to go so far?"

"I've never met anyone with your scent," Maya sighed happily. "I want to stay close to you." She vanished for a second, reappearing on his shoulder, burrowing her nose into his neck. "Please."

Sasuke picked her off his shoulder and if she were a dirty rag. "If you become a burden, I won't hesitate to kill you." With that, he dropped her to the ground, and she changed back into herself with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Maya-chan!" Karin shrieked, attacking her with the teddy bear t-shirt. "Don't let that pervert see you naked!"

"Who?" She blinked at Karin's flustered face, a little dazed. Being so close to Sasuke, his strength had overpowered her senses. Maya's mind was in a fog and Karin's panic barely got through to her. The older woman sighed, pushing her black bangs back.

"Never mind. Just come sleep with me for tonight. As soon as Jugo gets back, we're going on the move again."

"Oh." Maya got to her feet. "He's in the market, looking for food. Maybe you should go help him."

How could a child who was ten at most know something like that? She'd have to have the byakugan to let her see something like that, but her honey brown eyes were nothing like a Hyuga's. That coupled with the strange things she'd already said…

"What are you?" The words left Karin's mouth before she had a chance to think them over. She clapped her hands over her mouth, ready to apologize, but Maya just gave her a look.

"A demon," she answered simply with a twinkle in her eyes.

About an hour later, Jugo returned with a bag of bread rolls with several in his arms, one in his mouth, and another in his hand. The three of them gathered around a fire all gave him a long stare, to which he replied with a muffled, "What? I was hungry."

"Maya and I made onigiri," said Karin. "Those rolls are dry in comparison to the delicious food we made."

"…I like bread rolls," Jugo responded resolutely.

Suigetsu chuckled, but Karin just shrugged and moved closer to Sasuke, using the excuse of making room for Jugo to sit in a way that allowed her to be right up against him. The Uchiha hardly seemed to realize what had happened, being lost in thought.

"What's with him?" Jugo muttered under his breath to Suigetsu.

The water ninja made a face. "I picked up a strange girl," he said quietly. "It turns out, she's a demon with an affinity for Sasuke's scent."

Jugo raised an eyebrow. "His scent?"

He shrugged. "Supposedly she can smell strength. She really likes his, I guess."

Suigetsu's expression was almost pouty, making Jugo believe that he was jealous of the girl's attraction to Sasuke. What the large man was more surprised about was Karin's passiveness. She seemed rather docile, calmly sitting next to Sasuke without sneaking glances at him.

"What is she like?" Jugo asked, referring to the girl. Suigetsu jerked a thumb over his shoulder to a lump behind the log they were sitting on. He twisted around but couldn't see very much. He looked back at the water ninja, confused. "It's a pile of blankets."

He shook his head. "She's under them."

Jugo's eyes widened. "That small?"

Suigetsu met his gaze. "Maya is a child," he explained. "Probably younger than most academy students."

"A demon, huh…"

Karin suddenly stood up and put her hands on her hips, facing the three men she travelled with. Only Sasuke didn't look up, but she didn't care, as long as he listened. "We're going to take her with us until we can find someone to trust her with," she announced. "That's the best course of action. Even if she is a demon, Maya is a child. And we can't just drop her on someone's doorstep. Agreed?"

"Well," the water ninja started, "I would really like to keep her, but I guess you're right."

Jugo just shrugged.

Sasuke remained silent, fingers laced together and face hidden. Then after a few moments, he said, "No."

Shock played out on everyone's faces.

"What?" Karin gasped in a shrill voice.

He sent a glare her way. "A demon child who can transform, sense abilities, and is already a loyal follower—we can't just toss it away."

A quick twitch of Suigetsu's eyebrow let Karin know he was just as appalled at hearing him talk about Maya as if she was an object. Jugo was still uncertain on the issue since he hadn't even met the girl yet, but he felt something unnatural in the way Sasuke spoke. Normally people would want to protect young children, but he seemed to be thinking of how she could help him in his quest for revenge.

Karin felt a pang of guilt that she was keeping another of Maya's skills from her leader. The girl had sensed Jugo's position and actions without ever having met him before. Maya probably didn't even realize that these were not normal things, and there might even be more, but if Karin went along with Sasuke, there was no telling how he'd use the demon girl. As much as she loved him, some protective, motherly side kept her mouth shut.

"You're saying you want to use her?" Suigetsu clarified, a challenging tone to his voice. "Whatever you say about her powers, she's still not even at genin level."

Sasuke shot him a look. "Levels mean nothing when it comes to power," he said firmly.

"If she's helpful, what's the problem with keeping her?" Jugo interjected, honestly confused about his teammates' hesitance. They had joined Sasuke in the first place because they admired his power and he helped them get stronger, as well. Except for Karin; she probably just wanted to be with him. Which made her objection even stranger.

Biting her lip, Karin looked away. They were both right. Sasuke knew more about child prodigies than the rest of them. He probably understood that power like hers was best put to use before anyone else could use it. "She _is_ extremely useful," she grudgingly admitted.

Their leader nodded. "As long as we test it out over the next few days and it doesn't slow us down, we'll keep it." He purposefully looked at Suigetsu. "Just like you wanted." With that, he stood up and walked off somewhere to sleep.

In his wake, he left an annoyed Suigetsu, a guilty Karin, and a clueless Jugo.

Morning snuck up on Suigetsu, as he was the last to wake up. The rest were nearly finished packing what few belongings they had, mostly weapons and scrolls. Nothing sentimental. With a groan, the water ninja pulled himself upright, feeling an unexpected movement by his feet. Curled up against his leg was a lump of blankets. For a second, he wondered when he'd become such a fitful sleeper, but then two blonde buns popped out, followed by a head covered in hair.

He stifled a laugh at the messy look Maya had acquired in her sleep, almost dying of the cuteness as she rubbed her eyes and yawned.

"Where…?" the demon child mumbled sleepily, twisting her head around slowly. She caught sight of Sasuke's back and her eyes lit up, evoking an unknown feeling in Suigetsu.

"You're here, with me," he suddenly found himself saying. "We decided that it would be alright for you to travel with us if you lend us your skills and don't slow us down."

"Mm," she mumbled, yawning again. "That's okay, I just want to be near him."

Maya didn't have to point out who she was talking about because they already knew who she liked the most. Overhearing them, Karin also felt a pang of jealousy, but for a different reason. That girl may be a harmless child; however, she was a demon child, and could not be trusted around her Sasuke.

In a puff of smoke, Maya had turned herself into the squirrel-like creature again and scurried across the camp, up Sasuke's leg, and buried herself in his sash, where she sighed and closed her eyes. The Uchiha stared in disgust for a moment before choosing to ignore her. He turned to the others and said, "We're leaving."

They ran in silence for a while until Maya started chattering in that squirrely voice. The others couldn't hear, but Sasuke slowed down a bit, then stopped completely and threw a kunai over his shoulder. The tag on it allowed him to appear where it had been thrown which was a tree where an unknown ninja was hiding. Suigetsu stumbled at the sudden actions of his leader, but he briefly saw Sasuke kill a man before returning to their side.

He had a hint of a smirk on his lips.

"What was that?" Jugo inquired.

"The demon girl sensed someone following us," he replied shortly.

_So you kill him?_ Suigetsu thought, deadpanning.

"Was that necessary?" Karin wondered, voicing her teammate's thoughts. But the glower that Sasuke gave her was enough to clamp her mouth shut. Jugo ran in the area between Sasuke and his other two teammates who had unintentionally started running side by side. They sent each other distasteful looks but they knew that there was something more pressing to discuss.

The true reason they were concerned for the demon child was because of the person they were setting out to find.

Itachi Uchiha.

With Maya's attachment to Sasuke and ability to transform, it was possible that she'd head into battle with him, and something in the both of them cringed at the idea of that adorable little girl being killed, demon or not. But they didn't have time to think about her much. As soon as they approached the next town, Sasuke ordered them to go search for information on Itachi and disappeared. It took them a moment to realize that he still had Maya in his robes.

"Did he just…?" Karin blinked in the direction he'd gone.

Suigetsu shrugged. "She'll be safe with him, probably," he reasoned. "Anyway, forget that. Let's enjoy this!" A sly grin appeared on his face. He loved asking people about Itachi, especially if they didn't feel like talking. The three ninjas spread out.

On the outskirts of town, a disturbance woke Maya from her sleep. The heavy aroma of Sasuke all around her had relaxed her to the point where she had dozed off, but his movement had become so jerky that she was shaken awake. An unfamiliar voice, followed by several explosions, started giving her a headache. Sasuke's enemy had a pungent smell, but far worse was another scent, watching from somewhere nearby. It made her want to gag.

Maya poked her head out in order to get fresh air, but was immediately greeted by a cloud of rising dust. Her coughing notified Sasuke that she was finally up.

"Shit," she heard him growl through clenched teeth. "Stay out of this."

Unconcerned with his warning, Maya watched as he performed a genjutsu in order to trick his opponent into thinking he was killed. She watched the way his clay explosions worked, looking at the colors they made.

"Chidori," she muttered.

"What?" Sasuke hissed.

"Uh." Maya felt her fur heat up. If she were human, she would've been blushing. She hadn't meant to look so deep into him, but now that she'd spoken up and with danger coming their way, she started talking faster. "Use Chidori on yourself—it'll cancel out the wood!"

Without hesitation, Sasuke drove Chidori into his body as explosives attached to him and went off. They were canceled, allowing him to use another genjutsu. He appeared behind the blonde haired enemy and shoved a hand through his back. "Too slow," he panted, barely controlling his shaking. Maya could feel the slight tremors through his body and sensed his uneasiness. She wasn't sure of the reason, though, because she could also feel his confidence in the fight.

The man turned into clay—another explosive.

"Sasuke," Maya whimpered.

"It's fine," he said to her, and the shockwave of an explosive blocked all of her senses for a moment. She didn't know what was happening until he was on ground facing the blonde ninja.

"That's what I hate about you two! Those smug eyes! You think you're better than everyone else! Those eyes ignore the beauty of my creations!" the man was shouting when her surroundings became clear again. He huffed with the effort of his screaming.

"I could care less about all that," Sasuke replied. "Now tell me where Itachi is!"

Insulted, his eyes changed to fury. As he stood, the opponent ripped his shirt off to reveal black markings on his chest. They were like stiches that he pulled on and suddenly his chest opened. She could feel the quickening of Sasuke's heartbeat, but it wasn't from fear, just alertness. The man pulled something from his chest and grinned maniacally.

"My greatest creation… Self-destruction! The greatest art of all that will make scars this earth has never seen!" A breath as the black marking grew across his skin. "And you… will die! The blast will cover over ten kilometers. I'd like to see you try and escape! Now show me your fear! Cry like a child and drown in your despair, because my art… is a bang!"

The pressure in the air was building. She could feel its power smothering even Sasuke's warm scent, and in a fit of panic, Maya curled herself into a ball. _Please get us out of here,_ she begged. _Let's leave, Sasuke. I don't want to…_

A strong force pulled them both backward and in a flash, they were compressed. It felt like they were being shot across the universe and once they crash-landed, they were unfolded. Without realizing it, Maya had transformed back into her human self and found that she was naked on the ground somewhere on the edges of the forest they were in moments ago.

"Sa…" She tried to say his name, but her voice didn't work properly. Sasuke's scent wasn't close enough—he had been sent somewhere else. The world was shimmering before her eyes, leaving her feeling not only exposed, but helpless as well.

"I want…" Before the sentence could be finished, she felt herself wrapped in warmth. A cloth had been draped over her and new voices came from too many directions. Her mind was too foggy, like when that explosive had come too close and blocked her senses for a bit. Strangely, she could taste the scents around her; they were almost like sunshine, but there was one that had a foul taste that sort of reminded her of someone.

Not of her own accord, Maya felt herself move towards the unusual scent. Her world cleared instantly and she found herself looking into the shocked blue eyes of a jinchuuriki.

"Oh," she smiled, touching his whiskers with her hand. "That's why I like you." Her world went black before she could add, _But I like Sasuke better._

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> The first few chapters will seem to move a little fast because I've squished a couple chapters together for the sake of more consistent length (because later on the chapters get longer and these were really short in comparison), but things do move fast when you're travelling with Sasuke Uchiha. ;P Please read on and let me know how it is. :D As a little sidenote, the title's origin is from this phrase: Real eyes realize real lies.


	2. Naruto and Itachi

**Chapter 2: Naruto/Itachi**

"What happened? Who did you face?" Suigetsu demanded with urgency when Sasuke emerged from a fight with Orochimaru's snake under his control.

"Che, I was used by an Uchiha brat…" Manda, the snake, gasped. Sasuke shot him a nasty glare as death crept up on the snake.

The water ninja glanced at the giant snake, letting out a sigh that was almost a laugh. "You should treat Orochimaru's animals better. Geez, you even used genjutsu on him…"

"I barely made it," Sasuke said in a voice that might've been menacing if he wasn't so tired. "I had absolutely no time."

"There you are!" Karin cried, arriving on the scene with Jugo less than a step behind her. "Your chakra disappeared completely and I thought you might've flown here."

"Yeah, it was a cool way to escape," Suigetsu agreed, "but just what the hell happened?"

"Just before escaping, we both took a huge hit from the explosion. He was definitely Akatsuki, but he was stronger than I expected," their leader explained, still half-crouched on the ground. He didn't seem to have the energy to even stand upright.

"We?" Karin repeated. "Maya's hurt?" She looked around but saw no sign of the demon child. "Where is she?"

He shook his head. "I was talking about Manda. I don't know where she went, but as long as she's not with us, she'll be better off." An attempt to stand failed, and his state of weakness seemed to make them forget about Maya for the moment.

"At this rate, there's no time to rest, Sasuke," the water ninja commented, noticing his extreme fatigue. Karin looked surprised at this—after all, he was the one who defeat Orochimaru, so surely a little skirmish like this shouldn't tire him out so much—but she was cut off from speaking by the Uchiha's collapse.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, I can definitely smell Sasuke on her," a gruff voice cut into Maya's subconscious.<p>

"Was she with him until now?" a female voice asked.

"Will someone just get her off?" the voice closest to her grumbled. It was the jinchuuriki whose scent she had been drawn to. She gripped tighter, eliciting a surprised gasp from the boy and a giggle from the same girl as before.

"Looks like she's really attached to you."

"Shut up, Sakura!"

"What was that?" A blunt force hit the boy, causing Maya to be jerked to the side, and she lost her grip. Air rushed around her and she only realized then that they had been running.

"See what you did!" the boy cried, but before he could reach her, stronger, safer arms caught her from underneath. The cloth had fallen off during the fall, leaving her cold, but it was now pulled tight around her again.

"We should get her some clothes." The person holding her was a man with a faint tinge of Sasuke's scent, which she found strange. Maya wanted to see, so she finally opened her eyes. She looked up into the masked face of a silver-haired man, but she could tell that under the mask he was giving her a soft and reassuring smile. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she replied.

He looked away. "Do you girls have any spare clothes small enough for her?"

"There's a town nearby," a soft-voiced girl offered. "We could quickly get her something…"

"There's no time for that!" the jinchuuriki boy interrupted agitatedly. "Sasuke could get so far we can't track him anymore by then!"

_Sasuke?_ Maya tried to sit up, but her position didn't allow for it. _If they're looking for Sasuke, maybe I should stay with them…_

The man holding her noticed her interest. "Do you know him?"

"Who?" Maya asked innocently, reacting automatically.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"No…" she muttered, shifting her gaze, but realizing her mistake, she hastily added, "I've heard of him, though. He was in the same town as me about a week ago."

"Where was that?" the blue-eyed boy demanded, dropping back to their speed instantly.

Maya shifted away from him, sniffing. "As if I'd tell you."

The gruff voice from the very beginning suddenly let out a laugh. "This is why you never get girls, Naruto!"

_Naruto!_ Maya involuntarily let out a gasp. "You're the host of the nine-tails!" she exclaimed.

He eyed her uncertainly. "Yeah, what of it?"

"I-I just…" She looked around at the ninajs. Most of them were looking forward, but a few of them watched her curiously. Shyness suddenly took over her personality. She hid her face in the older man's chest.

"Come on, Naruto," the pink-haired girl said. "Don't scare her like that."

He huffed. "It's her fault for saying weird things."

The two went on talking, and then the one with the dog joined in their conversation—he was the one with the gruff voice. He kind of sounded like a dog, so it made sense. They were talking about Sasuke again, but she couldn't listen very well because the man holding her started talking.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake."

"…Maya," she replied reluctantly.

"I know you're lying about Sasuke."

She stiffened.

"It's fine," he assured her. "I won't tell them. By the way you're reacting, my guess is that you have a strong bond with him."

Maya sighed unhappily. "Not really."

Kakashi seemed to smile again under his mask. "But he means something to you."

She pouted. "Are you saying it's too one-sided?"

He chuckled. "Will you tell us where he is?"

"I don't know," Maya said honestly. "We were separated during a fight with one of Akatsuki. I think I sent myself one way and he escaped another way, on his own."

"Are there other people travelling with him?"

She eyed him suspiciously. Did he already know about Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo, and he was just testing her, or was he uncertain himself? The way he was watching her reaction made her think the latter, so she shrugged. "I only ever met Sasuke."

"Hm."

"Hey! His scent split up!" the dog ninja suddenly announced.

"What?"

While they argued to decide on their course of action, Maya could already feel Naruto's determination to look for Sasuke. She changed into the squirrel creature she'd always used and crawling into Naruto's pouch that held his ninja stars. Kakashi was the only one who noticed in the confusion but didn't have the time to say anything as Naruto split into several kage bushin and went off to search for which scent was the real one.

It wasn't long before the two of them found someone—but it wasn't Sasuke.

From the way Naruto shivered, she assumed it was someone he knew, and from the scent of his strength, she felt that he so closely resembled Sasuke, it was almost hard to tell them apart. This one had a strange mix that she couldn't understand, but she didn't try to and slid out from Naruto's pouch. Somehow, she knew that this was the man Sasuke was searching for. If she clung to him, surely she'd find Sasuke.

Ignoring Naruto and the man's conversation, she snuck along the sidelines and found a clear shot to grab onto his cloak, when suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

"I was more of a brother to him than you ever were!" Naruto shouted, his words echoing loudly. Just as she neared Itachi, he moved again, closer to the blonde boy. She froze for a moment, shocked by Naruto's bold proclamation, then saw Itachi move from the corner of her eye and bolted forward to where he was now. She didn't let him escape this time, clinging tightly to the bottom of his cloak. Just as she did, the man erupted into a flurry of black birds. Maya held on to one for her life, shrieking as it took off.

It looked as if Naruto had no idea that the squirrel on the bird's back was her, so he dismissed it as a strange phenomenon and went back to his group. Maya felt a pang of guilt for leaving them—they all seemed like good people, especially Naruto, but it was still Sasuke's scent that called her the most. She said sorry even if no one could hear her then.

The breeze through her fur was almost relaxing and the scent of the man's strength was so close to her nose that she felt a familiar drowsiness, but it wasn't nearly as strong as Sasuke's. Somehow, his was a bittersweet dark chocolate, while this was just milk chocolate. They floated along for a while, passing many miles of land before slowing to a stopping point in front of a traditional-looking building.

Maya considered hopping off and transforming, but if she did, it would leave her naked, so she let the bird carry her inside before she jumped off and scurried in a direction that smelled fairly stale. Along the hallways, it was oddly empty, as if the place wasn't lived in. Eventually, after snooping around, she found a closet full of clothes that had a certain pattern on them.

"Uchiha…" she said quietly in realization. It was the same symbol that Sasuke had on his clothes. Her suspicions that the man the birds belonged to was related to Sasuke were strengthened. The clothes were boy's clothes, but she didn't care. After transforming into her human form and getting dressed, she poked her head out of the room and looked both ways. It was still empty.

Bare feet slapped on the ground, making her cringe at their loudness, so she started to tip toe down the hall she was currently located in. The smell of burnt sugar called her forward—it wasn't a smell of strength, but rather candles. She followed it, thinking that if there were burning candles, surely there would be someone there to keep an eye on them.

Before she had a chance to even sense the attack, someone had pinned her to the ground from behind.

"Who are you?" the person demanded. The tone of voice was only vague familiar, but it was easy to recognize it as the other Uchiha that Naruto had run into. "How did you get in here?"

His weight on her body pushed the air from her lungs, making it difficult to speak, but Maya managed to say, "Like this," and then closed her eyes. In an instant, she was back in her squirrel form. She was about to crawl out for the man to see her innocent eyes and cute smile, except a hand was already grabbing her by the scruff. Squeaking, Maya tried to squirm out of his grasp as he lifted her to eye level.

"Who are you?" he repeated in a calm yet dangerous voice.

"Maya," she answered softly, stopping her movement. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before the man looked away. However, Maya didn't even need that long to identify him as Sasuke's brother. The thought of being so close to such a person made her giddy, her senses suddenly not able to get enough of his scent that was so similar to that one special scent.

"Did you really think I would spare a squirrel?" he asked, looking back at her pitiful position.

Panic made her belly churn as the fingers that had previously grabbed her scruff wrapped around her neck. In one quick movement, she could be dead, and his second of hesitation was all she needed to transform back into a human and stare at him with huge honey-colored eyes that begged not to be hurt. "No," she breathed. And she truly believed that. The menace he exuded was terrifying, yet, underneath was a softness that she hoped to appeal to.

A blush spread across the Uchiha man's cheeks as he backed away in sudden shock. A naked female child had suddenly appeared before him.

Maya didn't notice his blush since he pulled himself together within seconds. She moved closer to him in earnest without realizing her current unclothed state. "I was separated from your brother not that long ago," the demon child explained with animated eyes. "I thought if I followed you, I'd meet him again. You two have the same blood running through your veins, so surely you'll meet soon?" Her eyes flickered across his face, searching for a sign that she was right.

Instead, a smirk twitched at the corners of his lips. "You've completely skewed our relationship in that fantasy mind of yours," he told her, picking the clothes she'd snuck in with off the ground and dropping them in front of her. "Put those on and come with me."

He left before she could even say a word, thinking that if she couldn't even find him in this house, then she was useless and would be killed when he wasn't too tired to lift his hand. To his immense surprise, she located him in the deepest sanction of the house in less than two minutes, somehow able to handle the overwhelming, oppressive power of all past Uchihas whose presence still lingered in the room.

"Most people fall to their knees upon stepping foot in here," he said without any inflections in his voice. He waited to see her reaction.

It was a simple shrug. "I think it smells kind of like incense in here. Like what they have at funerals." After her eyes had finished wandering around the room, they landed on his face. They met each other's gaze, hers a fearless one accompanied with an innocent smile while he remained serious throughout. "What's your name? I think it's Ita-something."

"Itachi," the elder Uchiha brother answered.

She nodded. "Itachi Uchiha," Maya said, tasting the name on her tongue. It felt stranger than Sasuke's, but she supposed it was because she'd heard his first. Or maybe there was no one who could ever feel quite the same as Sasuke.

"What?"

"No, I was just trying it out."

Itachi watched her approach a scroll on the wall. The way her honey brown eyes flicked from one line to the next told him that she wasn't just skimming, but reading with incredible speed. He'd only ever seen someone with a dojutsu absorb information that fast. As soon as she finished, Maya turned to smile at him.

"I like these proverbs," she said, pointing to the scroll.

He almost laughed, but kept himself in check. "Those aren't proverbs; they're mantras that a great man once used to say to keep himself motivated to become stronger."

"The Uchihas are all about strength, huh?"

"What do you know about the Uchihas?" Itachi asked suspiciously. The tone of her voice had a hint of confidence that he couldn't understand. "Do you really know my brother that well?"

Maya's face turned bright red. "No! Of course I can't claim to be close to him! I just… know him," she explained hurriedly, her volume lowering as she spoke. By the end, she was practically mumbling. It was an impossible thing to convey without revealing her true nature, and for some reason, she didn't want to tell this man just yet. The aura around Itachi was so confusing that she didn't know what to believe about him.

"In that case, how about I teach you something?"

"About Sasuke?"

"About power," he elucidated. A strange feeling tugged at him similar to annoyance. Why was she so attached to his brother? At this stage in his life, Sasuke didn't seem like the type to take care of a young girl like her. But the way her eyes lit up calmed him instantly. It gave him the composure necessary to put her under the hypnotism of his mangekyou sharingan.

Maya's innocent eyes scanned the new world in wonder.

"Rather, this will be about endurance. Without the ability to endure, how can one become stronger?"

She blinked. Itachi's voice came from every direction in the dark, dusty, inverted world she had appeared in, yet he was nowhere to be seen. A quick whiff of milk chocolate came from behind her, allowing Maya to evade being stabbed by a long blade from the direction of her blind spot. The elder Uchiha was standing where she had been mere seconds ago, but he soon disappeared from there as well.

This time, before she could react, the blade slipped between two of her ribs and exited from the other end. It had punctured a lung, making her gasp of pain even more agonizing. Itachi was expressionlessly holding the sword in place. A hint of a smile made the corners of his lips lift slightly, something Maya took to be a challenge, and she quickly changed her expression into one more serious.

Even as she readied herself for more attacks, the discomfort of the sword being twisted and pulled out was something she hadn't expected. Maya gritted her teeth and jumped far away from him, one hand putting pressure on the wound.

"Itachi!" she yelled at the air where he disappeared from once again, furious that he was using such cowardly tactics like not showing himself and fighting face-to-face. Though, he had said it was about endurance. Was it the ability to handle pain that he was testing? The next attack came from the side, slicing her clean in half, but in this world, she was still very much alive.

A scream escaped her mouth—there was no way a child like her could've held that back. Recognizing her efforts to keep a straight face, Itachi felt that there was still something that he should watch out for with this girl. He remained hidden until her screams died down, but by that time, Maya wasn't even there at all. As a sharingan user, he could see the shape of her body lying on the ground in two pieces, except there was no actual person there.

How could someone in _his_ world disappear? He should be able to find her without even looking! Itachi whipped around as a light breeze ruffled his hair. Maya was no longer a little girl with two cute little buns on top of her head and big, innocent honey brown eyes. These black eyes were narrowed dangerously.

"What are y—?"

There was no time to finish the sentence when suddenly, the room in the Uchiha house came into focus and he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Itachi quickly got to his feet, eyeing the young girl reading the scrolls on the walls once again.

"I like this one, too," she said in that childish voice of hers, tilting her head back to grin at Itachi.

A shiver ran down his spine. Once Kisame returned from searching around the Uchiha hideout, Itachi instructed him to take care of Maya, wanting to get rid of the creepy little demon immediately. He didn't know how true it was to think of her as a demon.

"What?" The shark ninja looked at the two of them incredulously. "How'd you even find her in the first place?"

"She followed me here."

"You let yourself get followed?" Kisame shook his head in disbelief. "That was stupid of you."

The Uchiha narrowed his eyes. "She's not as weak as she looks," he said warningly, a double meaning to his words that Kisame didn't catch. He seemed annoyed at the task, but grudgingly and very roughly grabbed onto Maya's wrist, dragging her to his side which made her squeak at his tight grip.

"Fine, what do you want me to do with her?" he growled.

Itachi shrugged. "Feed her, get her a bed, that sort of thing."

"Shouldn't you be the one to do this?" Kisame grumbled to himself, but his partner heard, so he continued. "Better yet, why don't I just slice her skinny little neck and be done with it?" Itachi sent him a look that made him shut up. Still, he was standing there, waiting for the order to kill her so that he could have a little fun.

"On second thought, just keep a look out for Sasuke and the others," he said unexpectedly. Surprised but relieved that he wouldn't have to deal with her, Kisame tossed the girl back to Itachi. She stumbled into him, catching herself on his robes which clearly didn't please the Uchiha at all. "Remember to only let Sasuke through."

Shark teeth showing through a huge grin, Kisame nodded. "Of course."

Maya fidgeted under his gaze until he finally left, and then she turned to smile meekly at Itachi. "What's for dinner?"

"Whatever you can find." He turned around, walking away with his Akatsuki cloak lightly billowing behind him by the speed of his walk. She almost had to jog to keep up.

"I thought you told Shark-san off because you were going to take care of me!" Maya protested.

"I have no time for someone like you."

She ran ahead of him and stood as a barrier with her arms crossed. "If you're not going to be nice, I'm going to do something mean to you!" the demon child warned, eyebrows furrowed in an attempt to look dangerous.

Itachi nearly snorted at the idea of this puny girl hurting him in anyway, but then he remembered what he'd seen before his mangekyou sharingan had been dispelled, even though it was a vague memory, and thought better of it. "This is a traditional place, as you can see," he stated. "If there's any food here, it's not going to be cup ramen."

She chewed on her lip, thinking. "Can't you cook?"

"Do I look like I can?" The way her eyes examined him made Itachi uncomfortable, so he helpfully added, "I can't."

"What about Shark-san?"

He couldn't help a short chuckle that escaped his lips. "Right."

Maya smiled at the sound of his laugh. "I can make onigiri," she announced cheerfully. "Would you eat it?" No longer amused, he started to walk past Maya without answering. She chased after him once she realized that she'd been ignored. "Hey, wait! What if I put salted salmon in it? Would you eat it then? Or do you like it plain? I don't know if there would be pickled ume or something…"

"That's enough," Itachi stated harshly, stopping in front of a sliding paper door. He looked down at Maya. "Make enough for yourself. No more."

Seeing her dejected face, Itachi almost felt guilty, but he just entered the room by himself and closed the door loudly behind him to let her know she wasn't wanted. He'd told Kisame off because of the way he'd grabbed Maya. Despite his cold exterior, he still remembered what it was like to have a younger sibling. He never would've let Kisame touch his brother like that.

But that didn't matter anymore, because now Sasuke was older and filled with hatred, and he was only coming in order to kill his older brother.

On the other side of the door, Maya let out a long sigh. She'd seen into Itachi when he had initiated that genjutsu—seen the loneliness, the strength, but most importantly the truth. In that state, he was more open than she could ever hope for a person to be, and she'd seen everything inside of him. The energy she'd felt had invigorated her and allowed her true form to be revealed, but only for that short moment. Back in the real world, she was a tiny eight-year-old girl.

She hoped that Sasuke would come soon so that she could explain everything to him, since it didn't seem like Itachi had any intention of doing so.

Leaving Itachi to his business, Maya searched for the kitchen in order make herself some onigiri. It was actually Karin who taught her not that long ago, before she went to sleep the first night they met. They'd all been hungry, yet Sasuke was the only one who didn't eat her food. He'd made the same face as Itachi had when she started talking about making food.

The kitchen was just as Itachi had said. There was a huge variety of ingredients but nothing remotely like junk food was stored anywhere. It made her wonder how the two of them had survived on their own being men and all. And with Itachi's condition… Newfound determination surged in Maya. She would make so much onigiri that she couldn't possibly eat it all by herself, and the other two would be forced to help her finish them! Yes, it was a perfect plan!

"All right!" she shouted, pulling out everything she needed and throwing them on the counter. The noise of her actions made every animal near the house bolt in surprise, making her laugh as she washed the giant bowl of rice. "I'll make the best onigiri ever! So good, they won't be able to resist!"

"Shut up, you stupid girl!" Kisame screamed from outside. His head appeared in the kitchen window, causing Maya to shriek and jump back in surprise. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"M-Making dinner." She watched him with shocked eyes for a moment before she carefully went back to washing the rice. Maya tried to ignore his stare, but found it difficult when he was right there in front of her. "If you're not going to help, why don't you leave?"

"Ha ha ha!" The shark ninja vanished for a moment, only to burst through the side door and glare at the girl. "You dare speak to me that way? Well, it's not like you'll be useful anyway, so Itachi won't mind if I kill you, right? I deserve a little entertainment while we wait." His rows of sharp teeth glinted, distracting from his movement to reach for the sword behind his back. It took Maya too long to react—he was already bringing it down by the time she moved, hitting the sink and nearly breaking it.

"My rice!" she gasped, her attention immediately redirected to the sword that was swinging towards her again. Maya rolled away from the attack, hiding under the table, when Itachi's footsteps could be heard down the hallway. Both of them froze.

"What's going on in here?" Itachi demanded furiously, entering the room with a dark aura that made Maya dizzy. "You're destroying a sacred Uchiha hideout. Get out, now," he snapped at Kisame.

"But—"

"Get out!" Itachi roared.

The Seven Swordsman Kisame dipped his head and went back to his post outside like a dog with his tail between his legs. Shaking, Maya crawled out from under the table and looked up at Itachi worriedly.

"I'm sorry that I provoked him…"

He didn't seem to notice her, sighing as he surveyed the damage.

"I can fix that," she told him, eyes hopeful. Itachi finally looked at her, his expression unreadable. Maya went on, "I mean, I can fix it, if you have dinner with me?"

"What happened?"

She shrugged guiltily. "I got excited, so I think he was annoyed with me… Shark-san doesn't like kids, does he?"

"Then maybe you should revert to your true form," Itachi said evenly. Maya stiffened at the look in his eyes—he wasn't supposed to remember seeing her like that. They'd been in a powerful genjutsu, one controlled by him, so maybe that had nullified her abilities, but still… There's never been a human who's seen her as anything but a child.

"What are you talking about?" Maya feigned her confusion so perfectly that she could see hesitation pass across Itachi's eyes.

He glanced away, back at the crushed sink.

"It's still working," she told him, "just dented."

"And how did you plan on fixing it?"

Maya sensed the challenge to his words. Indeed, how could a child fix that without knowing any ninjutsu? Her age put her at a disadvantage, since in the ninja world, academy students were a little older than her. She smiled sheepishly and knocked herself lightly on the head. "You're right, how could I? I'm sorry, I just wanted to make food that would make you happy…"

"Cabbage and onigiri with seaweed."

"What?"

He met her eyes for real this time, and allowed a small smile. "If you want to make a food that will make me happy, that's it."

Elation rose in Maya's chest. "Yes, of course! I'll go to town right now and get some cabbage!"

Itachi didn't even try to stop her. It was a good thing that she was so easy to tease like that. He exited the kitchen and headed towards the room where he would await Sasuke. Not that long ago, he'd felt them nearing. He headed down, hoping that by the time Maya came back, he would be finished and she could reunite with his brother. Someone like that would surely be an asset to Sasuke on his future path, whether it was on the dark or light side.

He entered the room, letting out a long sigh in anticipation of the upcoming battle. It was hard to pretend all the time. Itachi crossed over to the chair and, with one last sigh, he closed his eyes and waited.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Last chapter was three chapters squished together while this was two, but the pace is probably still a little too fast, right? It gets better, I promise! So please read on and leave your thoughts. :) I'll see if I can fix these chapters better later.


	3. The Collide

**Chapter 3: The Collide**

About a mile from the Uchiha hideout, Maya was calm enough to be her usual perceptive self. She realized that she was going in the wrong direction and that the most concentration of power was south of the house, not east as she had been going, so she changed direction accordingly. The peaceful forested area here was nothing like the one she'd been in with Sasuke that day. It had felt much more sinister, but she supposed that was more so because of the one lurking in the shadows.

The feeling of the unknown person's chakra had been somewhat familiar, but it was so shielded that Maya figured she shouldn't jump to conclusions based on such a faint scent. With her close proximity to Sasuke at the time, her mind was probably too clouded to really understand what was going on. That was why the fight was nothing more than a blur in her memories.

Wind rushed by her head, making her hair flow behind her like a mane. She smiled at the thought, pretending to be a horse soaring through the trees. With eyes closed, Maya could feel everything around her, even…

Her eyes snapped open. She stopped so hard that her momentum nearly sent her flying towards the ground, but she caught herself in time and focused harder. There was a great deal of power rushing for the Uchiha hideout. A powerful scent that was exactly the one she'd been waiting for, now entwined with something else. His anger and determination was pouring out of him in waves so strong that it gave life to his power, making the bittersweet chocolate smell burn. Maya almost wanted to stop her senses from reacting because it was giving her such a headache.

Instead, she recalculated her destination and made for the Uchiha house once more. Itachi's cabbage and onigiri with seaweed could definitely wait, especially once she stopped the brothers from fighting and reunited them in a circle of happy understanding. Some part of her doubted its possibility, but her childish naivety overran the negative feeling.

Branches whipping her face, Maya hurried forward, hoping to stop the battle before it could begin. A release of ocean breeze tinted air hit her in the face, but she forced herself forward. Such a deep misunderstanding between Itachi and Sasuke, so easily fixed. She had to make it in time. The ocean smell, she suddenly understood, was Kisame's power. After all, he was one of the Seven Swordsmen.

And then it was all gone. She could only feel Sasuke and Itachi. The battle had started and there was no one but her to stop them. Where were the other three? Had Kisame simply left once he knew that they weren't here? If that was the case, if she could just find them…

That idea quickly unraveled when she thought about it. They could be anywhere, or Sasuke could've ordered them not to interfere, or he'd escaped on his own. She didn't know. She didn't know how to stop this from happening. Behind Itachi's cold hearted exterior, there was a softness that longed for the life he once had. She wanted to give it back to him, and Sasuke. She wanted to bring sweetness to their dark scents.

The house was finally in view and she rubbed her eyes to make the prickly tears go away. She was so mad at everything that had put them in this situation. Just as Maya thought that she could finally end it, she found that there was a barrier blocking her from entering. Was this the result of Kisame's sudden power surge earlier?

"Shit," she cursed under hear breath, circling the house to find a weak spot. There was none. In her child form, there wasn't much she could do. Of course she had demon powers, but like this they were limited to "understanding" people. There wasn't much she could do just by sensing what was going on inside the house, but she closed her eyes anyway and let the world whisper to her. It would put her to ease knowing exactly what was going on.

Sasuke was caught in Itachi's genjutsu—the mangekyou sharingan's world that he'd also put Maya herself into. Back then, she knew he'd been testing her to see if she was worthy of not killing. Itachi did have appearances to keep up, after all. She cringed as she watched the scene play out and felt a stab at her heart to see Sasuke go through that pain, no matter if it was real or not. As his eye was being torn out, Maya felt a tug on her senses. One of them had noticed her.

No, not one of them. Someone else who was watching from inside. His eyes turned toward her, and then there was something next to her. A black half of a person came out of the ground, eyeing her strangely. "Who are you?"

"Maya," she replied, hoping that her tone told him to leave her alone.

"Oh?" He sneered. "What are you doing watching something like this?"

"What about you?" Maya retorted.

He chuckled nastily. "I think you should go home, little girl. It's about to get very dangerous."

"They've started fighting with ninjutsu, haven't they?" She spoke quietly, worried for their sakes, but was snapped out of it when the weird half-a-person laughed. It chilled her to hear it.

"You're very smart for someone so young!"

A compliment from him meant nothing. She scrunched up her nose in distaste. "Leave me alone."

"Sure. But just watch out. When they get serious, they're going to do some major damage to this area. You should really go home," he suggested, but he didn't really sound like he cared, so she ignored it and waited for him to leave. Once he did, she kept an eye on the brothers while simultaneously searching for somewhere to watch at a safe distance.

She made a discovery just in time. They burst through the house in such a flurry of intense powers, her mind fogged up. Their strength blocked out her view completely. For a long time, all she could do was listen to Itachi battle Sasuke. Strangely, Sasuke's scent had altered somehow and it didn't feel like him anymore. The sounds without sight made Maya squirm in fear. She didn't want either of them to get hurt too badly. She didn't want a winner. She hated their stupid manly pride that didn't allow them to talk.

What was more stupid, though, was her infatuation with it all. When she stopped to think about it, her involvement in the whole thing made no sense. She'd just been picked up as an orphan child by Suigetsu, and the group had planned to lose her pretty fast anyway if it wasn't for her abilities. So why was it that Sasuke pulled at her heartstrings so bad? Why was it that she desperately needed to make things okay? Why did his scent lull her into such a calm, serene state that she'd never experienced before in her life?

There was something her father had told her once about demons. Some sort of name that meant "partner." Maya couldn't help but wonder if maybe he was that person. Everything would make sense of that was the case, but why not Itachi? He was the stronger brother. She hoped that it wasn't the level of darkness in their hearts. After all, that was what demons fed off of. She closed her eyes and hoped that the darkness in Sasuke's heart was not stronger than Itachi's, because what she'd seen in his mangekyou sharingan had been more than enough darkness.

_I need to go home soon,_ she thought. _To ask father about this._

Maya could almost hear his deep, rumbling voice in her head. _You've been a failure as a demon all these years. You skipped in meadows while the others beat each other up with the bones of their dead prey. Why should I teach you anything now?_

A burst of Sasuke's energy brought her back to reality, although she still couldn't see the event playing out because of Itachi's strength. It was true that Maya had already beaten the mangekyou sharingan, but this was different. She hadn't even seen these powers of his, let alone defeated them. That made it harder to clear her head but after concentrating and forcefully pushing her consciousness through, she had a view of the two of them.

Fear surged through Maya, making her skin prickle. Itachi's fingers reached forward, towards Sasuke's eyes, and hovered there for a moment. Then they moved up a little, poking Sasuke's forehead.

"Sorry Sasuke… This is the last time…" The words travelled towards her on the wind, almost as if they were whispered into her own ears. She felt a chill roll down her spine.

Maya held her breath as she watched Itachi's health fail him—he fell against the wall he'd pinned his brother to, leaving a trail of blood on Sasuke's forehead, and finally Itachi fell to the ground.

A lump rose in Maya's throat. "He's dead?" she whispered hoarsely. Almost as an afterthought, the barrier lifted, allowing Maya to instantly rush in to be by Sasuke's side. But when she was finally close enough to see with her own two eyes, she hesitated. The look on the Uchiha boy's face was so sadly nostalgic, it was painful to see. Maya stayed where she was, letting Sasuke fall to the ground next to his brother as rain pelted the two of them.

Side by side at last, as brothers should be.

There had been some sort of understanding between them in Itachi's last moments. Even though the older brother was now dead, things could move on for Sasuke. The rain mixed with Maya's tears. Slowly, she made her way over. Sasuke turned his head at the sound of her footsteps crunching on rocks.

"Maya…" he muttered. His voice drifted, as if he was in a daze.

She came close enough to touch him, kneeling next to him. "We should bury him, right?" Maya asked quietly. The rain almost drowned out her words.

Sasuke turned his head back to the sky. "Later," he said, closing his eyes.

The blood from his forehead and eyes were washed away by the gentle rain.

* * *

><p>Maya jerked her head up. A man sat on the stone before which Sasuke and Itachi laid, appearing out of nowhere. This time, there was no mistaking it. The man's scent and the feeling of his chakra were the stronger version of what she'd felt in the forest. She couldn't tell exactly because of his mask, but it felt like he was analyzing her. Before long, he spoke.<p>

"Interesting."

The tone of his voice made her uneasy. "What do you want?" she spat dangerously. Truthfully, it probably only made her more adorable. It made her regret being a child in her repressed form.

"Sasuke, of course."

"You can't have him."

He tilted his head slightly. "Oh, can't I?"

"No," she growled. Under her touch façade, Maya was practically shaking with fear. The palms of her hands had started to sweat and it had nothing to do with the damp air.

"You're too slow," the unknown man suddenly said.

Maya started. She'd been so focused on her fury that she hadn't noticed another presence pop up.

"Well excuse me for not being able to move at the freaking speed of light."

The sarcastic voice made her twitch. It was the guy who'd met her outside the house while she watched them fight. The half-a-person.

"Hey, look who it is!" he exclaimed, catching sight of Maya. She felt the urge to back away but knew that she couldn't leave Sasuke with these two here.

"Did you record everything?" the masked man interrupted.

"Relax, I got everything," the black person responded, not taking his eyes off Maya. "Say, this girl watched them the whole time and now she's sitting next to Sasuke like she knows him or something. What do you think about taking her with us?"

He ignored the second part. "I think I'll relax and enjoy the viewing later. But for now, let's take Itachi's corpse and leave immediately."

"What about—?"

"The girl?" The masked man turned his attention to Maya who sat in the rain, shivering pathetically. She hated the fact that it was cold and this child's body was so fragile. She wanted to stare him in the eyes and convey every bit of her rebellion to this man, let him know that there was no fucking way he was going to take Sasuke.

The half-a-person looked up suddenly. Maya felt it too and felt a wave of hope rise in her chest. "It's them," the black guy noted.

"Wait—" Maya started to say. If they just lingered here for a moment longer and the group of Leaf ninjas arrived, she could…

"No. Get Sasuke and Itachi now. We're leaving." The masked man turned to leave. In a split second, Maya made a decision. If they wouldn't wait, she would follow them. As long as no harm came to Sasuke, she might still be able to fulfill the role she wanted to play. Rushing at the masked man before he disappeared, she transformed into the squirrel creature that allowed her to grab onto his cape and fly away with him.

"Fuck," the man hissed, feeling her attach. But they both knew it was too late and she was already with him in their base. Maya flopped to the ground in the dark room, gasping. His speed had almost been too much for her, especially since he'd only meant for that transportation ability to work for one person.

Before she had the time to so much as blink, she was trapped in a cage. Maya scampered to her feet, gripping the bars in fury. She had to duck her head to fit. "You could've at least made it bigger!" she shrieked, crying out when he lifted the cage. "What are you—?"

The man lifted the cage to eye-level, peeking out through the hole in his mask. Something familiar glittered in the darkness. A faint reflection off his eye kind of made his eye look like…

_Sharingan?_

His world was suddenly made clear to Maya. The man felt her being sucked in, resulting in a panicked jerk that stopped her from seeing any further.

"You…!" He growled and threw the cage against a wall. It shattered, causing her to land, unexpectedly, on a bed. Maya's tiny heart beat so furiously that it threatened to break through her ribcage. Neither of them had much of a chance to react before Maya bolted off the bed, heading for what she thought was the door, but his foot slammed down on her tail.

Maya screamed.

"Why are you still here?" she shouted, her voice shaking horribly. Both of their nerves were shot at the idea of being so close to each other. Her paws scrabbled uselessly against the stone cold ground. Maya felt cold hands grab her scruff so roughly, it choked her. She reverted back to her child form in a panic, causing the man to lose his grip.

"What the hell are you doing?" the sharingan user demanded, backing her into a wall with his hands on either side of her head. He wasn't holding her there, but he might as well have been. Terror threatened to make her heart erupt. Not only was she so close to possibly the most dangerous criminal in the history of the world, but she was a naked, useless child. There was no protecting her from anything, not until she could use enough demonic power to go back to her original form. The mangekyou sharingan had enough—part of her hoped that the man would use it on her.

But it looked like he knew better, cursing as averted his eyes. "You've put me in a difficult position."

"Oh yeah?" She found herself challenging him, fueled by her fear of what he was going to do to Sasuke. Speaking of which, Maya continued, "What do you plan on doing to him?"

He snorted as if the question was completely irrelevant. "What are you doing with _him_?"

"Doesn't it make sense?" she retorted, almost taunting him. "I mean, look at the relationship between you and—"

"That's exactly why I'm asking you! Someone like you can't be involved in this."

Seeing him so aggravated gave her a small sense of accomplishment.

"You'll ruin everything. I'll just have to kill you."

"Aw, come on, Tobi." Both their heads twisted towards the door. The black half and a new white half had come together and stood in the doorway. Light was now shining on them, revealing their situation, which made the strange person's eyes go huge. "Whoa! I mean, if you want me to leave…" He looked at them oddly.

Without warning, the masked man grabbed Maya's shoulder and thrust her at the plant-looking person. "Take her. Just fucking take her."

He blinked, then grinned down at Maya. "Hi, I'm Zetsu. And that sweetheart is Tobi."

"Tobi?" She frowned in confusion, but instantly forgot about it as a draft made goose bumps appear on her flesh. Maya wrapped her arms around herself uncomfortably.

"As much as I like seeing people squirm, this is just wrong," Zetsu said decidedly. "Let's get you some clothes." Maya nodded unsteadily, but she didn't really want to go out like that. The sharingan user just stayed back and watched, agitation rolling off him in waves. The plant man noticed both of their feelings and swiftly leaned over, eating her up and taking her off to get dressed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I dropped some hints. o.o And more hints to come. But the most important thing will take its time to be revealed. ;P In the next few chapters is when Maya and Sasuke's relationship starts developing. It's completely innocent for now, of course, since she's… eight… xD


	4. Sickness in Truth

**Chapter 4: Sickness in Truth**

Maya sat in a corner playing with a Rubik's cube clothed in an Akatsuki cape that Zetsu asked someone to make since there was nothing lying around for an eight-year-old girl. She looked up every few minutes, watching Zetsu play around with something that, form this angle, resembled a map. Curious, Maya set the cube down and walked over to his side, peering over his shoulder. He glanced at her suspiciously.

"What are you doing?"

She sighed, taking a step back. "I don't want to be here. What's that guy doing?"

"You mean Tobi?" Zetsu turned his gaze to the open door as if he could see through the house and pinpoint the other man's location. Despite his appearance, Maya knew he couldn't do it—if anything, she could, but there was smog over her senses here. There was too much power surrounding the area. She knew that if she tried to concentrate, Sasuke's scent and chakra would slice through everything else, but it made her tired.

Her eyes stared to glaze over with sleepiness. Too much had been happening lately, especially with Itachi testing her and forcing her true form to come out. That had taken up too much energy, as well as the mental exhaustion from the knowledge of who Tobi really was. Maya stared up at Zetsu like the helpless child she was pretending to be, hoping to gain some sympathy, but the plant ninja didn't seem too interested.

"Yeah," she mumbled, swaying. Maya barely caught herself in time.

"Hey, do you need a nap or something?"

"No." Maya was alert again knowing that she couldn't sleep now. It had been fine to wait for a while, to let Zetsu think she was just as she seemed and nothing more, but the waiting was making her restless. "Can I go see him?"

Zetsu shrugged, his attention mostly on the map. He moved pieces around, surveyed them, and then moved them again. "Don't know where he is."

"Okay…" She sighed dejectedly, putting on an act as she went on, "Well, can I go to the bathroom, then?"

He considered the request, gazing at his work, and then finally looked down at her. "I'm busy," Zetsu told her.

"I can go by myself," she suggested, widening her eyes to emphasize her innocence a little more.

He shrugged again, not really caring. "As long as you don't get lost…"

"Thanks!" Maya skipped out of the room. It took Zetsu far too long to realize that he'd never told her where the bathroom was, but by then, it didn't make a difference.

In the hallway, she scanned every direction before pressing herself against the wall so she could feel a little hidden while she tried to block out everything that was giving her a headache. It was a curse to be so aware of people sometimes. The moment she locked on to Sasuke's location, though, Maya was grateful for it. A sort of navigation system had formed in her mind that told her which turns to take and which ways had people in them. She had to avoid those by a great distance so as not to get caught, but at this point she had time so it was okay.

The path became so easy to follow after a while that she got careless, sliding against the wall as she walked. Exhaustion was taking over her mind and body—especially in this state, she couldn't fight it very well. Even though the building wasn't very complex and Sasuke wasn't too far, Maya found herself slowing to a point where her feet were dragging along the ground. She coughed a few times, causing her to stumbled and gradually fall to the ground where she sat for a good five minutes.

Her mind felt like it was being cooked, burning up her whole body. She couldn't help but wonder, was it really just because of the amount of sheer power around her, or had something else happened to her? Deciding to ignore it, Maya pushed herself to her feet again, silently making a promise to herself not to stop walking until she reached Sasuke. She'd traversed through three floors so far, leaving one more until she could find his room, but the stairs had somehow managed to disappear off her radar.

Things weren't so clear anymore. On her right was a flight of stairs that she hadn't noticed before when sending out her senses, but it worked. Climbing down them with great difficulty, she ended up closer to his room than she'd expected. His scent wafted down the hall to her and as she walked closer, she could feel it getting stronger. Soon she was halfway down the hall and to the left was an open entryway.

Maya leaned heavily against the wall, coughing for a couple moments before stealthily sliding into the room. She had almost been waiting for hidden guards, but strangely, there were none. Tobi probably figured that there was no one inside he had to watch out for, so as long as no one unknown entered, he could do other things while waiting for Sasuke to wake up.

"So you're still asleep," she muttered, forcing her feet to move towards Sasuke. Everything, not just her extreme senses, had started to fog up. Maya kneeled unexpectedly, realizing that the weakness in her body had spread to every part of her. It felt like her mind was shutting down, but she had to stay awake for Sasuke's sake. With a small, child-like hand, she brushed the hair from his forehead and rested her palm on it.

"Ungh…"

Surprised, Maya removed her hand, watching nervously as Sasuke slowly blinked open his eyes. He squinted at first, raising a hand to touch where her hand had been as if he'd felt a really odd sensation.

"Did…" Not awake enough to talk yet, he mumbled a few things before stopping and looking at Maya properly. "Did you touch me with fire?" he asked in confusion.

"I—" She didn't really want to speak her next words, worried what he'd think of her, but she continued, "I just put my hand on your forehead for a second. I wanted to see if you were… okay…" Maya trailed off as Sasuke pulled his other arm out from under the blanket, closer to the demon girl, and grabbed her hand. She inhaled sharply, unsuspecting of his movement, but it seemed completely innocent.

Sasuke frowned. "It's warm…" He sat himself up, taking Maya's head between his hands and making to pull her towards him, but he retreated immediately. "You're burning up!"

"I don't think you should worrying about me," Maya tried to insist, interrupted from going on by a short bout of coughing. He gave her a look as if to say, "I don't believe you, but I'll let you have your pride. For now."

Turning his attention from her, he examined the room. It was practically empty, so there wasn't much to see. "Where are we?" he muttered.

"Akatsuki's hideout," she answered.

Sasuke snapped his head towards here. "What the fuck are _you_ doing here, then?"

Maya glanced at the ground sheepishly. "I had to follow you here," she tried to explain, quickly looking into his eyes. They were wide with a mixture of amazement and fear—for her? She shook it off, about to go on, but he cut in.

"_Why?_" Sasuke demanded if that was the most ridiculous thing to say in the world.

"To make sure you knew the truth."

"What truth?"

"About—"

"Itachi Uchiha."

They both jerked in surprised at the new voice. Standing in the doorway was the one person Maya dreaded to see at that moment.

The smirk hidden behind his mask could almost be heard through his tone when he said, "I see you're awake earlier than I thought. And you, little girl, should not be here."

Maya opened her mouth to protest, unable to speak because Sasuke interjected. "Let her go. She has nothing to do with Akatsuki. She's just a stray I picked up."

"A stray?" She could hear the amusement in his voice and found herself hoping that he wouldn't reveal anything. Her heart sank at hearing his next words. "So he doesn't know?"

"Know what?" Sasuke demanded immediately.

Maya squeezed her eyes shut, feeling warmth even from her eye lids. Her head hurt so bad. "Nothing," she said through gritted teeth. "Can't you just let us both go home? There's nothing good you could do for Sasuke."

"She's right. I don't trust you, especially since you kidnapped an innocent girl. If you plan on using her to—"

"Oh, believe me," Tobi chuckled, "I can't use her. It's you that I want, and I'm glad to see I got here before she could brainwash you."

"Brainwash?" Sasuke cast a strange look at Maya, one that she didn't notice as she fell back, her head in his lap.

_This isn't normal,_ she thought. _I was perfectly healthy until I got here. I've never gotten sick in my life._

"Sa… Sasuke, don't listen to him," she managed to get out. A harsh cough made her throat burn. "His name is Madara Uchiha. He made the nine-tail fox… and Itachi wouldn't want…" Her voice failed her, but Maya couldn't tell when the information was lost because to her, it felt like every word was being conveyed. The confusion on Sasuke's face told her otherwise. However, a faint hint of recognition fueled her hopes that he would take her words to heart before Madara could say anything more.

"Who are you going to believe?" Madara asked dangerously. "Her, or me?" A light _click_ sounded and suddenly the feeling in the room changed dramatically.

"Amaterasu…?" Maya whispered, not realizing she'd said it out loud. She could feel Madara's shock and panic, and at the same time she could smell a tint of blood in the air.

"Guah!" Madara exclaimed, shouting out more as he was pulled back. Maya wanted to open her eyes so badly, but it felt like they were glued shut.

"Nngh…" Sasuke shifted forward—she felt him raise his arm but didn't know exactly what was going on. He panted, trying hard not to gasp in pain.

"Sasuke?" she asked nervously. "What was that?"

"I… I don't know…" He sat there, regaining his composure for a few more moments with light pants. "What… the hell… was that…?"

Madara's presence still hadn't returned yet, which Maya took as a good sign. "That was Amaterasu. I didn't know you had it, that's why I didn't understand at first, but I think… Itachi gave it to you." Groaning with the effort it took her to lift her throbbing head and open her eyes, she looked earnestly into Sasuke's eyes. His face was contorted in uncertainty and something like anger.

"What are you talking about?"

"He did something to you before he died, didn't he?" Madara's presence had reappeared. She watched him from the corner of her eye putting his mask back on.

_Shit,_ Maya thought. _I was too slow to start talking. But Sasuke still trusts me more… Right?_

"To protect you," Maya said before Madara could say anything else.

"That makes no sense… What the hell are you talking about?" His face showed anger more than anything else. "What are you trying to say? Why would Itachi want to—"

"You still don't know?" the other Uchiha cut in.

"You keep fucking with me and I _will_ kill you," Sasuke threatened. Through his rough façade, Maya could feel him shaking. This had to be shocking for him, but it would've been so much better if she could tell him on her own… There was no way to get out of this situation now, however. She had no choice but let Madara tell Sasuke what he wanted the young Uchiha to hear. All she could do was make sure he had the right information and the right goals in mind as they told him the truth.

"I see talking with you is going to be difficult," Madara conceded. "I guess I understand. Some weirdo takes you in and starts telling you all these shocking things. But I assure you I speak the truth. You asked Itachi yourself about the person who helped him that night."

Maya gritted her teeth—seeing Sasuke's face change like that pained her. She could feel the sharp pangs of emotion from him in her own heart. Gently, she put one of her hands over his. He looked down jerkily, having been listening to intensely that he wasn't aware of his surroundings anymore. But his body relaxed just the slightest bit.

"It was me. I know everything there is to know about Itachi Uchiha. Of course, he died without realizing how much."

Sasuke's hand tightened harshly around hers. He burst out, "Enough! I don't care anymore! Go away, and never come near me again!"

"He's right, Madara!" Maya took the chance to stand up for Sasuke. She literally stood up. "Go away for now. You can see that he's not in a state to talk to you anymore." Her fury and need to protect Sasuke added to the acid dripping from her tone, something that Madara recognized as dangerous. After all, he knew Maya's true nature. For a moment he assessed Sasuke and knew that Maya was right, so he nodded.

"Very well. I'll come back later."

With that, he was gone, but when Maya turned back to Sasuke, it didn't seem like he wanted to talk to her, either, even though his hand was still almost crushing hers. Once Madara had seemed to completely disappear, he noticed what he was doing and let go with a gasp.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "I—I…"

"No, I understand," Maya assured him softly, scooting a little closer. "Do you think you can listen to me more calmly?"

"Itachi, he… How do you even know anything about him?"

"After that fight in the forest, I was picked up by some Leaf ninjas. I went off with a blonde one named Naruto—" Sasuke stiffened at the name, but she didn't take much notice of it. "We ran into Itachi. Or rather, a clone of him, so I tried my hardest to follow him, and I ended up at the Uchiha hideout. I think he didn't kill me right away because I was a little girl and I probably reminded him of you in some way."

Maya ignored his scoff at that statement, hoping that once she finished, he'd understand.

"You don't know the extent of my abilities, but I'm very aware of people. I can practically see into them, but not as much as I could see into Itachi when I was locked in his mangekyou sharingan." She paused there, waiting for that to set in.

"Why would he…?" He struggled to understand, then met her eyes. "And you're _alive_?"

She smiled. "There's more to me than you think. But anyway, while I was in there, I could see every inch of Itachi. I know the whole story, his every thought and emotion while going through it all. At this point, I'm your closest connection to him."

Sasuke seemed to reject that idea. "I don't want to know the sick things that when through his head when he…" Choking on his words, he was unable to continue.

Maya shook her head. "It's not how you think. I…" She searched for the right words. "I don't know if I can explain it correctly, but can you promise to listen?"

She nearly cried at the tortured look on his face. His expression was so much like a lost child's that for a moment she wondered which of them was older. Then, slowly, he nodded. She smiled in thanks, but found that her throbbing headache was back. A cough threatened to bubble up. Maya tried to push everything to the back of her mind, yet it still hurt.

"Promise me that whatever Madara tells you, don't believe it all," she begged, making sure that before she became completely incoherent, he had the right ideas in his mind. "I might not be awake for much longer so please, for Itachi's sake, don't fall into Madara's trap."

Mouth open in hesitation, Maya could tell that Sasuke wasn't sure what to believe yet. His eyebrows were furrowed together in doubt, not knowing what was real and what wasn't.

"If you could use mangekyou sharingan, I could show you in an instant," Maya said wistfully. "Like this, I'm almost too sick to hear myself talk. Sasuke, my head hurt so bad…"

Without warning, she was suddenly lifted into his lap. A small gasp left her lips in surprise, not because of any unpleasantness. Sasuke cradled her head against his chest, calming her with his scent immediately. But it wasn't just for her sake; she could tell that this was a way to comfort himself as well.

"As powerful as you think you are, you'll still just a child right now," he murmured into her hair. "I feel like part of Itachi's soul is in you. For some reason, I can't let that go. I need to you to stay here with me. And I'll listen to Madara, but I won't believe his lies. I'll believe whatever I hear from you." Maya sighed contentedly, but there was more. Sasuke had halted in uncertainty. "I can trust you, right?"

"More than anyone," she promised.

He huffed, letting her know that he wasn't ready to trust her that much yet, but just a little bit was enough for now. It was enough to let Itachi's hopes become a reality. Sasuke's arms tightened around her—Maya knew that he was only able to do this because she was a child, and for that moment, she was glad for it. Maybe she'd never be this close to him again once she was back to normal.

What she couldn't figure out the most was why Madara had allowed her to get even closer to Sasuke. As far as she knew, the relationship between Madara and her father had been one of complete hatred, so why let a relationship like that form between her and another Uchiha? They had come together in order to achieve more power which was a good enough reason, but what about the complications of such a relationship? Surely Madara knew something like that most of all…

_Oh well. I'll take good care of Sasuke, so there's nothing to worry about._

The outside world became fuzzy, drifting away into a world of dreams. She wanted to wake up in time to hear what Madara would tell Sasuke, but with the heavy feeling of unconsciousness, she wasn't sure how long it would be until she woke up.

In Maya's dreams, she could see something dark inside of her.

Calling her.

It wanted her to go home.

_No… I need to…_

_Sasuke…_

Ah. So that's why.

They're calling me home.

That's why I'm sick—part of me is already there.

Maya faced the dark hole inside of her and held out her hand, palm forward. "I am here of my own will now," she said, closing the hole with her mind. "I never want to go home as long as I have something to protect here on Earth. He even knows that he needs me now. I can't leave." With every word, the hole closed further until it was nothing and she could finally rest.

Lying down, Maya watched the clouds float by and held her breath, never letting go.

Why did they want her home now? They were the ones who banished her. Had something happened? Guilt tugged at her heartstrings. If she had gone home, she could have fixed everything—maybe even have gone back to her original form. But not now. Not when Sasuke needed her to most. Not when it might be the _only_ time he needs her.

"Wake up soon," Maya told herself. "I want to be back in Sasuke's arms."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> With all the Sasuke drama, I was really worried about making him too out of character! D; But adding in a little Maya time at the end eased my nerves, because I can't make my own character out of character, ahah. :D


	5. Reality

**Chapter 5: Reality**

Waking up in a room she'd never seen before, Maya swung her feet over the bed she was on and hopped onto the ground. This room wasn't as dark as the one Sasuke had been held in, the open doorway apparently facing outside where the rising sun was crawling up the sky. She reached up to her hair where her buns had fallen apart, so she quickly fixed them, then adjusting her Akatsuki cape before heading out. She found herself on balcony that seemed to wrap around the building overlooking a flat area that was similar to the place where Sasuke and Itachi had fought.

At that thought, it was as if she had called on him because Sasuke appeared from the right, looking down at something in his hands. Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo were not far behind. She turned away from the balcony, towards them, and smiled faintly as Kairn's face lit up in recognition.

"It's Maya-chan!" the female ninja exclaimed, rushing forward to grab the young girl in her arms. "Oh my God, we thought you'd died or something!"

Suigetsu scoffed, ruffling Maya's hair as Karin set the girl down. "That was just you. The rest of us didn't freak out at all," he corrected.

Karin stuck her tongue out at him, restraining herself from sending him flying over the railing. "It's normal to be worried about a little girl."

"She's a demon. Have more faith in her." He shot Maya a toothy grin which she returned, glad to see them all getting along. Even though they were bickering, it meant that everything was okay. She'd never really gotten to know Jugo, but she met his eyes. He was lingering behind Sasuke who was watching them all without much of an expression, which worried Maya, but Jugo's soft smile calmed her a little. He seemed like a sweet guy.

"What happened to you, anyway?" Suigetsu interrupted her thoughts.

She paused to think. "I've met a lot of people in the past…" Maya stopped. How long had she been sleeping? "What day is it?"

They all looked at each other, but no one knew.

Laughing, Maya changed her question. "How long was I asleep?"

"About a week," Sasuke answered, since he was the only one who really knew. He was acting a lot calmer now, but it was only to be expected since he'd had time to come to terms with the whole story. She just hoped that Madara hadn't skewed his views on things too much. All of a sudden, she took notice of the clothes they were wearing—Akatsuki capes, just like her. It hadn't stood out so much before when she was just reuniting with them and she'd sort of forgotten what they'd been dressed as before.

"Why are you guys dressed like that?" she frowned.

"So are you," Karin pointed out, oblivious to the younger girl's troubles.

But Sasuke noticed. "Relax, I'll explain later," he said flippantly so that the others didn't really catch on. He put a scroll away in the rope tied around his waist and walked past her. The others followed, slowing down a little when Maya didn't start walking right away.

It was Suigetsu who stopped completely while Karin trailed Sasuke as close as she could, and Jugo who was also attached to Sasuke was too afraid to leave his side. The water ninja kneeled down with his arms open, smiling so that only part of his sharp teeth poked out. "Come on, I'll carry you," he said. "After being asleep for a week, your legs must feel like jelly."

Nodding slowly, Maya walked forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Suigetsu stood up, bouncing her a little to get her in position. She leaned her head on his shoulder, tired despite sleeping for so long. Her body felt much lighter without that darkness pulling her away from the human world. It was strange to think that she'd actually been able to force it away by pure will power and wanting to stay with Sasuke. No demon had ever taught her how to make portals like that, let alone close them.

"Where are we going?" she asked Suigetsu after a while. They had left the building and started running through a forest with an unknown destination. At least, it was unknown to Maya.

"We're going to find out where the eight-tailed beast is," he answered, hopping down to a lower branch as they became too thick. Sitting up in his arms, Maya felt a surge of panic course through her veins, making her stomach do a flip. Suigetsu, surprisingly perceptive, spared a quick glance at her. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing…" she mumbled, sending her senses forward to where Sasuke led the pack. Maya wanted to talk to him and let him know that he didn't have to do this, but that was something she hadn't wanted to reveal yet. It was too early. She thought that he could do everything with his own strength up until a certain point. Unfortunately, it didn't look like Sasuke thought that way. There was something he wanted from Akatsuki, or else he wouldn't be wearing their cloak right now. She mentally made a note to talk to him the next chance they got.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Okay, but if you need anything, you can tell me."

Maya found herself smiling. She had a feeling that the water ninja wasn't usually like this. His mischievous smiles and playful jabs at Karin made her think that he was the type to rush headfirst into battle—not much of a thinker or a compassionate person. It made her happy that he sort of babied her, even though she wasn't actually a child. The support was nice. "Thanks," she said seriously, and he nodded in response.

After a while, Maya noticed that she was slowing him down, as he was a good few lengths behind the rest of the group. Especially Karin who stuck so close to Sasuke that it almost looked as if they were holding hands. She knew they weren't, but it sparked a bit of jealousy in Maya. She nudged Suigetsu.

"Yeah?"

"You can let me down."

"You sure?"

"I can handle myself," she assured him, and he paused for a moment to let her down, then increased his speed to catch up with the others. When Maya passed him in seconds, the looks on his face was priceless, causing her to burst out laughing and nearly trip on a branch, which in turn made Suigetsu start cracking up.

"That's what you get for looking so smug!" he shouted, running up next to her.

Karin's head swiveled around at the sound of laughter, wondering what they were talking about, and rubbed up against Sasuke. "So I bet Maya-chan was a huge burden when you found out she'd come after you," she said conversationally, hoping to put herself in his better graces.

Instead of getting the response she wanted, Sasuke didn't make any gestures. He just said, "She wasn't."

"How come?" Karin asked in earnest. A child like Maya would surely be nothing but trouble! As much as she thought the little girl was adorable, her motherly side wasn't very strong. "I mean, sure, she can sense things, but so can I."

"You shouldn't try comparing yourself to a child," Sasuke said flatly.

Her mouth dropped in shock. "I wasn't—!"

"We're here," he said, cutting her off. Karin huffed unhappily, but knew that she was being sort of ridiculous. After all, even if it did come down to her or Maya, that girl was only a child so Karin would win. With that thought, she felt more at ease, and dropped down to a clearing just on the outskirts of the town.

"Kumogakure?" Maya landed on the other side of Sasuke, sneaking a look at him. He was facing the city, though, and didn't notice. She wanted him to see the silent message in her eyes, so she waited, but Karin interjected.

"There's a guard," she said, pointing at a man at the entrance, when another joined him.

Sasuke nodded at Suigetsu. "Take care of them. Jugo, Karin, go help him." For a second, Maya wondered if he'd heard her mental pleading, but then he added, "I'll join you if they prove to be hard to squeeze information out of."

The three off them ran off in formation as if they'd been working together for their whole lives. Maya took the opportunity to talk to Sasuke. "I have something I need to tell you," she said before he could say anything. It was a few moments before he took his eyes off the others and turned them to Maya.

"It can wait."

"No, it's about the demon power you're trying to get." The words were spilling out in a hurry—she could hear the fighting turning in their favor already. "You shouldn't do it. You can't trust that kind of demon power. You should—"

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu called.

Sasuke left her side without warning, and she cursed under her breath, running after him. By the time she was there, he had already used his sharingan on the man and gained the information he needed. The glare she sent him the moment he looked back at her surprised the Uchiha. He didn't think she could get mad at him and yet she seemed ready to give him the silent treatment. The next chance he got, he figured he should explain things to her. Someone like her couldn't afford to be angry—it would offset the whole group.

"It's getting dark, Sasuke," Jugo noted, gazing at the setting sun.

"Yeah, we can go after the eight-tailed beast tomorrow," he conceded. "If what that guy said was correct, he won't be going anywhere for a while."

Karin and Suigetsu nodded in agreement, while Maya just attached herself to Suigetsu's leg. The water ninja almost jumped at the sudden movement, but he just smirked and patted the girl's head. It had been a while since he'd felt affection for anyone. Maya's adorable features sort of demanded it, and even Jugo was a little swayed by the young girl, although he didn't admit it. The larger man was afraid that if he got too close to Maya, he might go on a killing spree and accidentally hurt her. So he kept his distance and left everything up to the others.

They went back into the forest, finding a small clearing not too far from the city so that they could still see it. Karin was the one who brought up the fact that if they were too close to the eight-tailed beast's host, there was a possibility of being noticed too early, so they didn't go any closer for the night. After Jugo returned from gather wood, they started a fire and cooked some fish that Suigetsu caught in a nearby river.

"It feels weird," the water ninja commented, taking a bite.

"What does?" Karin asked uninterestedly, not so enthusiastic about the fish.

"Eating my brethren." Suigetsu flashed a grin with his teeth full of chewed-up fish, which grossed out the tracker ninja. She wrinkled her nose in disgust, making a show of scooting away from him.

"That was gross," she stated grumpily, but she didn't take the bait like usual.

"Jealous 'cause Sasuke's playing with Maya-chan and not you?" Suigetsu winked. The two of them had gone off a little while ago, around when Jugo had gone searching for wood, but they hadn't come back yet. Their excuse had been that Maya was still a little restless and he was going to tire her out.

"What's he even going to do, spar with her?" Karin suddenly burst out, flinging her fish around angrily.

"Hey!" he cried. "Respect your food!"

She snorted. "Whatever. I just think he's being weird."

Suigetsu shrugged. "I thought you liked Maya-chan," he said, a little confused. He didn't mean to talk to Karin in a civil manner, but Jugo had fallen asleep and he had nothing better to do. She might go crazy and do something weird to Sasuke if he didn't fix it, though.

"I do. She's cute, but…" Karin sighed, glaring at him suspiciously. "Wait, what's wrong with you? Did you eat a diseased fish or something?" She stared at her own fish in horror, feeling silly when Suigetsu started laughing unexpectedly, spitting out a mouthful of fish.

"You really know nothing about fish!" he laughed, coughing as he calmed down.

She shrieked at the fish that had splattered on her foot. "You—You… Ugh!" Karin stormed off, clearly distressed, and headed for the river to wash it off. She grumbled to herself about how stupid Suigetsu was compared to how cool Sasuke was, stopping in her tracks when she sensed something strange. Like Maya, she had the ability to sense chakras, and by now she knew the difference between a demonic chakra and a regular human's. Had Sasuke run into the eight-tailed beast?

"I'm coming, Sasuke!" Karin shouted, taking off in the direction of the demonic power. Bursting through a thicket of bushes, she stumbled into an area on the bank of the river that was blocked from the rest of the world by the shade of some willow trees. And there, by the water, sitting innocently was the source of the power. It was Maya. The girl had told them the first day they met that she was a demon, but to have this much power she'd have to be a full-grown demon, not a child as she was now. Unless she was some sort of prodigy that overstepped the laws of the world, there was no way Maya was the person she said she was.

But another thing was off. Sasuke had her locked in a staring match like she'd never felt before. It was only then that Karin realized what had happened to his eyes—mangekyou sharingan was activated.

"Sasuke, what are you doing to her?" she gasped, unable to stop herself. His eyes snapped up, shifting back to normal. Blood trickled from his eyes, making him blink and then press his palms to them, groaning.

"Ungh…" he muttered, stumbling to his knees, and then sitting back.

Karin rushed forward, calling out Suigetsu's name as loudly as she could, and she stuck her arm in front of Sasuke. "Here, bite!"

"I'm fine," he hissed, pushing her arm away stubbornly. "This isn't something that needs to be fixed. I just have to get used to it…"

"What happened to Maya?" Suigetsu's voice came from the direction Karin had entered from. The older woman turned around, surprised. She'd been focused on Sasuke's pain and hadn't thought for a moment about what he'd been doing to Maya. For a second, she felt like she should be on Maya's side, despite the strange surge of power she'd felt from the young girl. It was gone now, but it had been there. Now the demon child was sprawled on her back, passed out.

The water ninja scooped the girl up in his arms, glaring at Sasuke accusingly. "What the hell did you do to her?"

Looking up with blood streaks still on his face, Sasuke faced his teammate steadily. "That's none of your concern."

"The hell it is!" Suigetsu shouted, thrusting Maya forward. Her head lolled back disturbingly. "She's fucking out cold. What the hell is wrong with you? You used your sharingan on her, didn't you?"

"Wait a second, Suigetsu," Karin interjected, standing defensively next to Sasuke. "She could've been a traitor or something! They kept her at that Akatsuki hideout for a week. Did you ever stop to think maybe she wasn't sleeping the whole time? And anyway, I felt more demon power from her than any I've ever felt before!"

"She's a fucking demon!" the water ninja retorted, rolling his eyes. "Of course you're gonna feel demon power from her!"

"That's not what I meant," Karin growled in annoyance. "More than I should feel from a child like her. I bet that's just a disguise and she's tricking us. Isn't that why you did that, Sasuke?" She looked to him for support, just as he regained his composure and finally stood up.

"No," he said, surprising her. "Maya is on our side, there's no questioning that."

"Then why—"

Sasuke waved a hand, cutting Karin off. "When she met Itachi, he used mangekyou sharingan on her. To test or just to mess with her, I don't know, but when he did, she found out more about Itachi than anyone else. It's a part of her demon powers. She's very aware of people, their feelings, their chakra."

"She did say that it was the scent of your power that got her so attached to you," Suigetsu allowed, still a little doubtful.

"I don't even know everything about her," Sasuke continued with a strange look on his face, "but she wanted me to see the complete truth, not the lies Madara fed me. So she told me to use my mangekyou sharingan on her. And it worked just like she said. I found out the whole truth. I didn't realize it then, but Madara had skewed things in such a way that I almost followed the path my brother tried so hard to keep me away from." He gritted his teeth in anger, unable to go on.

Karin felt oddly left out, as if they had a connection she couldn't impose on. "…now what?" she asked stupidly.

Sasuke shook his head. "For some reason, she really doesn't want me to get the eight-tailed beast. Something about compatibility and rejection. She would've explained, but when I looked up to see you, the mangekyou sharingan was severed."

"S-Sorry…" Karin looked at the ground guiltily. Even though he hadn't said it exactly, she felt like she'd just been scolded.

"Doesn't matter." The Uchiha met Suigetsu's gaze. "Will you take her back?"

The water ninja stiffened a little when Sasuke got closer, wondering if he was going to take Maya from him. "Yeah, I will," he replied before that could happen. There was a strange need to protect the girl that he felt, almost like a father or a brother. He'd once had an older brother and he found himself thinking that this was what it must've felt like.

With a nod, Sasuke left the clearing, and Karin scurried after him.

"Suigetsu?"

Surprised, he looked down to see Maya squeeze her eyes closed harder. She put her arms around his neck, holding on so tight he thought she was going to choke him. "You're awake?"

"I was only passed out for a second. I didn't want to face Karin," she admitted in embarrassment. "She's obviously in love with Sasuke. I thought if she saw us together like that… I don't know. I was just nervous. And… I didn't know if Sasuke was okay, after seeing all that."

Suigetsu shifted Maya to one hip and used his free hand to pet her head. "Don't worry about all that shit," he said with a grin. "Karin's one of many girls you'll have to deal with if you wanna go after Sasuke Uchiha."

Maya's eyes opened, a light blush on her cheeks. "No, that's not…"

"It's okay, kiddo," Suigetsu chuckled. "I won't tell him. Anyway, you alright to sleep tonight?"

Shrugging, Maya was glad for the subject change. "I'll try, but if not, I don't mind. I can look at the stars that way."

"Okay."

They walked back in silence, but before they reached the new camp, Suigetsu's curiosity got the better of him. "What really happened in there?" he asked, referring to the mangekyou sharingan Sasuke had used on her.

She hesitated. Suigetsu was trustworthy, though, so Maya decided it would be all right to tell him. "When Itachi used it on me, I basically saw into his mind. Then Sasuke used it on me, so I projected everything I saw from Itachi to him. Not only did he hear the story, he practically felt it." Almost sadly, she added, "That's why I wonder if he's really as fine as he sounded."

"You know what he sounded like?"

Maya looked at him in question.

"Like he wanted more."

"More?" She frowned in confusion.

"Of you," the water ninja winked. A light blush crept up on her face again, making him chuckle. "You're kind of a mystery to us. That sort of thing makes anyone want to know more."

"I didn't mean to be a mystery," she protested.

He shook his head. "It's okay. Sometimes I wonder if you're really just a cute demon child named Maya."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Leave your thoughts if you liked it, if you didn't like it, if there are things that can use improvement… Scratch that, things can definitely use improvement, so please tell me what. xD Sasuke may start seeming OOC, but it's just Maya's effect on him, so hopefully it's understandable. :)


	6. Resolve

**Chapter 6: Resolve**

At some point during Maya's hours in a state of half-asleep awareness, she'd ended up in her squirrel form on a pile of someone's clothes. By the scent of them, they were Karin's, which she took as a sort of apology for the senser ninja's somewhat unprovoked jealous behavior. Sitting up and washing her face like a regular squirrel would, she wondered at what point she'd transformed. As a child Maya had always experienced sleepwalking and nightmares that would sometimes cause bursts of power, like her transformation ability. There was no memory of a nightmare, so she could only hope that she hadn't sleepwalked.

"You're up," came a man's voice. She stopped washing her face, looking up to see Jugo sitting idly against a tree. The reason she hadn't recognized it instantly was because he didn't really talk much. "The others went to town to get you a few changes of clothes, since they noticed you only had an Akatsuki cape, and considering your transformations, it would be useful." _Although I'm nervous about them leaving me alone with her…_ Jugo thought.

Maya nodded. "That's a good idea. Thank you."

"Thank them," he said with a shrug. Jugo picked at the grass.

Jugo wasn't a very noticeable character. Sure, he was large, but he was almost what one would call shy. Maya knew that probably wasn't the case, but he was quiet. There was something about him now that he wasn't among a bunch of eccentric ninjas like the others; something a little lonely. She had felt out why Karin and Suigetsu chose to travel with Sasuke; Karin, who was probably originally just bored, had fallen for him, and Suigetsu seemed like the sort of person who had a mission in mind. It was just Jugo who she didn't really know. Maya closed the distance behind them, staring up at him with her black squirrel eyes.

He watched her uneasily. "Yes?"

"I was just thinking, why are you with Sasuke?"

"He…" Jugo wasn't sure how he felt about talking to the girl. He knew that she was a demon, and demon were usually not to be trusted, like the tailed beasts, but since the others had grown somehow attached to her, he pushed himself past that stereotype. "I have these killer urges sometimes, and he's the only one who can stop them."

"I see," Maya squeaked.

Misunderstanding, Jugo thought she was suddenly afraid of him. He mentally cursed himself for revealing something so useless and made to stand up. "I'm sorry. I'll move if you feel uncomfortable around me…"

"No!" she gasped instantly. "There's nothing you could say that would make me uncomfortable." Her whiskers twitched in a way that was supposed to be a smile. Maya wished that she were human at that moment so he could read her expression better, but at that moment, changing back would leave her naked and she had no idea where her cape was. It was evil anyway.

"Hey there Squirrel Girl," Suigetsu called, returning with Karin a few steps behind him and Sasuke trailing a little further behind, spacing out.

Maya chattered happily, scurrying up to him. She climbed up his clothes to his shoulder. "What'd you get me?"

He held a bag up to her which she jumped into, making him laugh. "I don't think you can see anything like that, it's pretty dark," he said.

Pushing a shirt up so that she could see it, a teddy bear was on the front, and she immediately knew that their choices had been perfect. "I love it!" she exclaimed from the bag.

"Those are the casual clothes. We got some practical ones, too."

"Like ninja clothes?" Maya popped her head out. "Cool! I've never had ninja clothes!" From her position, she could see Karin with another bag, smiling faintly as if she was trying to hold it back. It made Maya happy that even a grumpy ninja like Karin found some things funny. A part of her was still thinking about other things, like the fact that they hadn't attacked the eight-tailed beast yet, but she didn't want to mention it then. Sasuke was lost in thought as he sat down and cloud-watch.

The other two put their bags down and Karin brought forward the ninja outfit she'd gotten for Maya. "They don't usually have them in your size, but it looks like this town's kids are pretty enthusiastic and like to dress up at an early age," she explained. It was a black t-shirt with a white vest and dark blue pants that matched the dark blue sandals. "And I got a pair of fingerless gloves that I wasn't sure about…" Karin pulled them out of the bag as well, which made Maya want to grin, but it felt weird with her squirrel mouth.

"Can I put it on now?" she asked excitedly.

"Sure." Karin handed the pile of clothes to her, pointing to a bush on the far edge of their camp. "You can change there, and then make sure to model for us!"

Maya nodded, grabbing the clothes in her teeth and scampering off. Karin sat back on her heels with a soft sigh that caught Suigetsu's attention.

"I commend your efforts," he said with a smirk.

She glared at him. "Shut up. This is so that I don't make more trouble for Sasuke."

"How mature." He was honestly surprised, but he figured that it also had to do with the fact that it was sort of hard to hate an eight-year-old girl with buns in her hair. Speaking of which, it was strange to see Maya come out with her hair completely down and tied back in a loose ponytail. With her own style, like most ninja, the outfit made her look more mature. He gave her a thumbs up.

Maya spun around happily, the tail of her vest waving in the wind from the force of her spin. She felt a sense of accomplishment or something at being worthy to wear clothes that were hers. Grinning at Karin, she asked, "What else is in there?"

"Spares, in case that gets dirty or torn."

She nodded. It made her feel better that she could really move around in these clothes. But truthfully, she wondered what good they would be if they thought she was a liability in battle. With that mindset, they would probably even try to keep her off the battlefield. "I'm going to get a drink from the river," she announced.

Suigetsu and Karin were surprised to hear her say something like that instead of asking, but Suigetsu understood. She didn't want them to feel like they had to look after her or some noble thing like that. He smiled at the thought, turning to Karin. "So while Sasuke's being a bum, how about we kill some time?"

Karin glared at him with extreme suspicion. "If you're trying to get into my pants…" she started accusingly.

He pulled a face. "Oh, hell no!"

"Hey!" Karin growled, insulted. "As a matter of fact, any guy would be _lucky_ to get in my pants!"

"Just shut up," Suigetsu said, rolling his eyes. Before she had a chance to protest again, they were interrupted by Sasuke finally getting up. They watched him walk in the direction Maya had gone. "Sasuke?" he called after their leader.

"Getting a drink," the Uchiha replied, almost incoherently.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Karin? Would you care to hear my idea?"

She snapped out of her trance. "Huh?"

With a smirk, he said, "You were staring at his ass, weren't you."

Karin landed a blow that sent his face flying into the dirt. "As if I'd want to do anything with you!"

"Jeez!" Suigetsu exclaimed, getting to his feet angrily. "I was just going to suggest a fucking _game_!"

"What's your problem!"

And with that, they engaged in a sparring battle that Jugo watched with mild interest.

Away from the bickering pair, Sasuke tried to block out their annoying yelling. While powerful, they were both quick to anger and really quite childish. Even more so than the rightful child of the group who he was setting out to see. He stepped through thick undergrowth and almost got lost, only finding her because of the sounds of splashing water that he noticed when he closed his eyes and paid attention. It was the sort of thing he'd seen Maya do when she was looking for something with her mind's eye or whatever it was she did.

Ducking under some trees with low branches, Sasuke emerged on the bank of the river, watching Maya crouch on a rock and stare at the water intensely. With speed he'd never seen before, her hand flew into the water and snatched up a fish that wriggled frantically. "Nice catch," he found himself saying. His sudden appearance made Maya jump in surprise, causing her to also lose her catch. "Oh, sorry."

She shifted on the rock, sitting down normally and facing him. "It's okay, I wasn't going to do anything more than catch it," Maya said with a reassuring smile. He wondered why he found it reassuring when it was probably just a regular smile. "Are you thirsty, too?"

Shrugging, he went to the water and cupped some in his hands. "I've been thinking," he said after a while.

"I know."

He saw her reflection in the water, choosing to look at it rather than her actual face. She didn't seem to notice, gazing off in some other direction.

"I mean, you've been spaced out since I saw you this morning."

Sasuke nodded. "It's just hard to wrap my head around, even though I already heard it once from Madara. He denied setting the Kyuubi loose on Konoha, you know. If he really hadn't, then maybe I could find a little more sympathy for him, but knowing the truth… There's no way I could truly follow Akatsuki in their search for power."

"I think they're more like you and the others. They're all with you for some reason that puts them at a position to gain something," Maya mused. "Akatsuki's members are all in search of their own power—Madara especially. I fear that there's something more to his plans that could affect a huge number of people. Not just the Fire Country."

Opening his hands, the water fell to the sand at the edge of the water, leaving a dark stain. "What makes you say that? You've only met him once."

Biting her lip, Maya ducked her head so that he couldn't see her expression anymore. "Yeah," she replied vaguely as if there was something more.

"Why did you keep me from going after the eight-tailed beast?" Sasuke asked, seeing that she wasn't going to go any further on that subject.

"I didn't keep you," Maya objected, lifting her head. From her reflection, he saw her looking at him. "You could've gone, but there was something else keeping you back. Your own conscience. Before I could even explain why, you knew Itachi's wishes and chose to follow them because that's the right thing to do."

Snorting, Sasuke said, "I haven't done the right thing in a very long time." _Why am I starting now?_ The unspoken question hung in the air. "And what's with your mature opinions? No academy student I know talks like that."

"By your standards, I'm not even old enough to get into the academy yet," she corrected him with a crooked smile. Maya didn't really want to give up her child façade, but the time was coming soon when she would really have to step up in order to help and protect Sasuke. If he rejected Akatsuki, there would be a target on his head as well, and there was also the challenge of returning to his city, Konoha, after being declared an S-class missing-nin.

"Right now, in this body, I'm eight years old," she started, her heart beating fast. "I was banished from the demon world by my father for being too frivolous. The idea was that I'd learn of what awful creatures humans are, hate them, and return to the demon world to learn how to be a _proper_ demon. They put a leash on me that would call me back once the darkness started to grow in my heart. I didn't realize what was happening at the time, but I guess seeing Madara created darkness in my heart."

"Then shouldn't you have been pulled back to the demon world?"

"Yes. But I rejected the pull while I was asleep. I didn't want to leave yet," admitted Maya, pulling nervously on a thread on her fingerless gloves.

"So what are you really?" Sasuke finally asked cautiously. He hadn't been sure how to phrase his question, but he had to know. If this child wasn't the real Maya, who or what was?

Finding it difficult to answer, Maya hoped her next words wouldn't change everything. "A demon… like the tailed beasts," she said quietly. "That's why I said you don't need the eight-tailed beast." _Because I have more tails,_ she added in her mind. That was something she didn't want him to know yet, fearing that he might abuse her power until he was in the right mind. At that moment, he was still uncertain of his path. He may have not gone after the eight-tailed beast that morning, but he still hadn't made his severed ties with Akatsuki public. As much as she trusted Sasuke, she was hesitant to reveal herself to him. It had been beaten into her by her father that humans were selfish and not to be trusted for so long that it was an accomplishment she could even be near a human at all.

"I see," was all Sasuke said.

Maya fidgeted with her new clothes, waiting for him to say something more. When he did, it was another subject she didn't particularly want to discuss.

"What happens when you go back?"

"I revert back to my true form as a demon."

"Why are you a child now?"

"It's my suppressed, mostly powerless form. They made sure I would have to face the human world with almost no protection so that I could see the worst of it."

"And if you came back of your own accord, not forced to like now?"

That was actually something she hadn't considered yet, so she took a moment to think about her answer. "I guess… I'd have my full powers? But I couldn't very well walk around in my demon form or people would think I'm attacking a city like with—uh, Konoha," she stumbled. Sasuke didn't notice the look on her face, so she went on, "And if I didn't have my power suppressed, I'd probably look my age, not like this." She gestured to her child's body.

"Then," Sasuke said with a look in his eyes, "the reason you didn't want me to go to the eight-tailed beast was because…?"

"From what I've heard, he and his host have become very in sync with each other. That's something extraordinarily difficult to achieve, and I don't think that a tailed demon will want to side with someone who only wants to use them for their own gain," Maya explained without knowing Sasuke's true reason for asking. "They're _much_ more powerful when they cooperate."

"Like you."

"Oh." Maya's eyes widened when Sasuke turned around to face her directly, walking up to her. It was clear what he wanted—an alliance with her like what was promised to him by Akatsuki with the eight-tailed beast. "I… Well, yes," she stuttered. She didn't like his hungry gaze that held hers so demandingly.

"Then go to the demon world and come back by your own will," he said as if they'd already discussed this plan. "With your aid, I'll be as powerful as any jinchuuriki, and we can take down Konoha."

"_No_," Maya gasped in shock. "No! Did you listen to Itachi at all, Sasuke?" She stood up on the rock to be on eye level with him. Her eyes were hard, not soft and innocent like usual. "He doesn't want you to take that path! That's _wrong_. Konoha has done nothing. You saw—only the Third and the council knew about what happened that night and the Third is already dead!"

"Fine," he hissed dismissively. "Then forget Konoha. I want to get revenge on the elders. At least them for making Itachi do such an impossible thing." As soon as he stopped talking, Sasuke clenched his teeth together. Maya noticed from the strain on his jaw. She touched his cheeks with her hands softly, leaning her forehead on his and taking in his scent. It calmed her, letting her almost forget his anger that was starting to flow into her. His jaw relaxed a little, but from the surprise of her actions and nothing else. The fury still boiled in his blood.

"Sasuke, I will lend you my strength," she said so quietly he had to strain to hear her. "You know that. I'll do anything to make you happy. I want the feeling of your scent drifting over me, your chakra flowing around you, your deep emotions pushing into my own heart to be the only things I feel. I want them to be softer, less angry, less sharp and painful. I don't know why, I just do. Later, maybe it'll make sense to me, but for now I just know that this is what I want, and I'm sure it's what your brother would want too."

Her voice slowly calmed him down until his muscles weren't so tense and his burning headache just left. It was as if she'd hypnotized him. He faltered a little when her touch left him, coldness where her hands and forehead had been, but he felt better. "Thank you," he muttered, a little embarrassed at his outburst.

"Sure," she smiled. "And for now, I hope it's okay if I stay like this. I don't want to stop being a kid just yet."

He smiled back, the look on his face nostalgic. "I know the feeling."

"When the time comes, I'll definitely go back," Maya promised, hopping down from the rock. She smiled up at him before bringing up something neither of them really wanted to think about. "So we're on the run now, huh? From Akatsuki _and _Konoha."

"It'll be a while before Madara figures out we never went after the eight-tailed beast," Sasuke reasoned. "Until then, I think we can think of something with Konoha."

"Do you mean to join forces?" she asked with surprise. That didn't sound like the best idea. "If you really plan on killing the council elders, you realize that after returning to Konoha, you'll only be getting yourself into more trouble?"

"Who said I was going to kill them?" Sasuke retorted with a mischievous smirk that reminded her of Suigetsu's sharp-toothed grins. "I'm just going to make them regret they ever picked a fight with the Uchiha clan and rebuild our clan into one even stronger than before. Not only will I make our clan proud, but the elders will turn in their graves when they realize their horrible mistake."

While Maya wondered exactly what he meant, she thought to herself that she shouldn't question it now. They had to focus on putting their full efforts into regaining trust in Konoha if they wanted to get anywhere and avoid being killed by Akatsuki for betraying them. The first thing was to see if Karin, Suigetsu, and Jugo would still follow them after hearing the change in plans. Jugo would definitely stay out of the three, but she wasn't sure about the other two.

And there was another thing. Rebuild the clan? As in… reproduce baby Uchihas? She blushed at the thought, a little jealous of the person Sasuke would choose for that part of his plan.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> At this point, I'm practically as attached to this story as Maya is to Sasuke. There's so much happening, I worry about making everything in character and realistic, but then I thought, it's my story. I can make it rain puppies if I feel like it. But still, I hope I'm doing a good job! So let me know with reviews. (:


	7. Divide And Conquer?

**Chapter 7: Divide… And Conquer?**

Upon returning, Maya and Sasuke found that Karin had stormed off after a scuffle with Suigetsu so the first thing was to send Maya into town to retrieve her. Once they'd calmed Karin and Suigetsu enough that they could stand to be in the same area as long as Jugo was between them, Sasuke began explaining their new course of action.

"I don't plan on using Akatsuki anymore," he started. "The only reason I even considered going along with them was because they promised me the eight-tailed beast in order to have the power necessary to bring down Konoha. Now that I think about it, they probably weren't going to give the eight-tailed beast in the first place."

Hearing him say that piqued Maya's interest. She looked at him curiously, wondering how he came to that conclusion. There was a reason she hadn't brought that up: if she could convince him with other means, there was no reason to make him hate Akatsuki. That would only make the darkness inside of him grow. Since he'd discovered something like that on his own and was able to talk about it so calmly, she hoped that he wasn't harboring too much hatred.

Jugo didn't seem to mind that their plans were changing, and Karin's expression said that she had some doubts, but Suigetsu was the one who spoke up. "What are you talking about?" he demanded with a growl. "The reason I joined you was so that I could take down Kisame, and he's in Akatsuki! And what do you even plan to do without their strength? I don't think you can take Konoha down on your own."

"You're right, I can't," Sasuke agreed. "But I won't be alone. I'll have your strength, if you decide to stay with me, as well as Karin's, Jugo's, and Maya's."

Suigetsu's eyes doubtfully raked over Maya and Karin. He didn't even try to hide it. Then he looked back at Sasuke. "I know that we've got a killer, senser-healer, and demon on our side, but still, don't you think it's pushing it to rely on _us_ to take down a whole fucking city that's crawling with seriously skilled ninjas?"

"No."

The water ninja's mouth went slack with disbelief for a moment before he regained his composure. "Well, whatever," he said in annoyance. "I only want to kill Kisame and get his sword. Anything that keeps me from doing that, I'm out." He stood up as if to walk out right then, but Maya felt a stab of panic that caused her to yell, "Wait!"

She hurriedly got to her feet, fists clenched at her side. "Are you really going to leave us so easily?"

Suigetsu's eyes narrowed. "I was nice to you. Don't mistake that for affection."

"I'm not!" she spat angrily, shaking her head. "That's not what I'm talking about! Alone, you don't have the strength to take down Kisame. Alone, Sasuke doesn't have the strength to take down Konoha. Together, you can both do what you wanted from the beginning."

"I still don't believe it. Konoha is one big ninja city. There's no way."

Maya looked at Sasuke for help. She didn't want to reveal too much without his permission, like the fact that it wasn't all of Konoha he was seeking revenge on, just a specific three people. Sasuke's steely eyes rested on Suigetsu as he said, "If you want to leave, then leave. I don't need someone who is going to question my ideals. Good luck with the Seven Swordsmen."

"Sasuke!" Maya gasped. "He can't leave. You need each other!"

"Let it be," he snapped.

Suigetsu glowered at them one final time before taking off. Shocked at the turn of events, Maya sat down in a daze, focusing on Suigetsu's retreating energy while Sasuke explained the rest to Karin and Jugo. They were both pretty calm about the whole thing and Karin even had a warmer glow than before now that Suigetsu was gone. If Maya had to guess what she was thinking, it would probably be, "Thank God that fish is gone. Now there's even less people between me and Sasuke."

"I'm only going to go for the elders," he said straight out.

Maya shot him a glare. "Why didn't you say that _before_ Suigetsu left?" she grumbled.

Ignoring her, Sasuke went on. "But now that I've rejected Akatsuki, they'll be out for me too. For that reason, I want to return to Konoha, regain their trust, and earn protection from Akatsuki. It might take a while since I've been classified as an S-class missing-nin, but… There are some people in Konoha that will definitely vouch for me."

Maya thought back to the group of Leaf ninja she'd run into a while ago, thinking that those were the people Sasuke was talking about. Certainly, the blonde had incredibly strong feelings when it came to Sasuke, going to far as to stand up to Itachi. Although she only caught bits of their conversation, she had felt every emotion pulsing through Naruto at that time. Sasuke was right to believe in that boy.

"What about once you kill the elders?" Karin asked. "They won't trust you after that."

Maya cut in before he could make up some sort of excuse. She knew the reason he was confident was because she had promised to lend him her demon powers, but she didn't want Karin to know that. "I'm sure we'll find a way to get revenge on them without anyone knowing it was Sasuke," she replied.

Karin gave the younger girl a look. "I asked Sasuke."

"She's right, Karin." Sasuke made sure the senser ninja understood his trust in Maya. "In the first place, I never said I was going to kill them."

"Then what…?"

"You'll know when the time comes," he responded cryptically, moving off to pack his things. "When we get to Konoha, we'll definitely be questioned, and I want you all to know as little as possible."

Sighing, Karin got up and piled all the new things she'd gotten into a backpack that she handed to Jugo. He didn't understand until he picked it up, almost falling over in surprise. "Whoa, what's in here?"

"Clothes," Karin said with a sniff.

_She _is_ a girl at heart,_ Jugo thought, putting his arms through the straps. He noticed Karin glare at him as if she had heard his thoughts and was daring him to say it out loud, but he was glad she couldn't actually read his mind. Once everyone had packed up, they headed for Konoha, leaving the eight-tailed beast to train in peace until Akatsuki realized Sasuke's betrayal and went after the jinchuuriki on their own.

Jugo trailed just behind Sasuke—he was never far from the Uchiha for fear of what he might do without someone to control him. Karin was a little more wary this time, lingering towards the back where she unknowingly fell into step with Maya. When she came back into focus, she looked at Maya accusingly.

"What are you doing?"

Maya shrugged in response. "You're the one who fell behind." It seemed like all of Karin's energy had deflated, which worried Maya. The senser ninja had always had a passion for one thing or another, whether it was her fangirling over Sasuke or fighting with Suigetsu or a momentary burst of motherliness. So she tentatively asked, "What's wrong? Missing Suigetsu?"

"No!" she snapped too fast.

Blinking in surprise, Maya gaped at the older woman. "You miss him?"

"I only have eyes for Sasuke!" Karin countered furiously, hiding her blush by turning her head and letting her hair fall forward as a curtain.

"Whatever you say," chuckled Maya, still a little bit in shock. She'd always thought the two hated each other, especially since Karin was clearly all for Sasuke, but it was true that Karin had suddenly changed when Suigetsu left. Maybe it was just the loss of someone to bicker with, and maybe it wasn't. "It's fine if you do like Suigetsu. You don't have to pretend."

Karin's silence told Maya everything she needed to know.

"The trip is going to take a day or two, so you might as well realize your feelings before we get there," the demon girl advised quietly so that the two males couldn't hear. "You probably won't have much time to yourself in Konoha."

"I don't have any feelings for Suigetsu," Karin retorted stubbornly, but this time, her voice wasn't as confident. "I really think Sasuke is cool."

"That's admiration, not love."

"As if an eight-year-old would know!"

Rolling her eyes, Maya sent chakra to her feet in order to speed up. She passed by Jugo so that she could be next to Sasuke and left Karin to think things over. It was one thing that she liked Suigetsu, but it was another that she _didn't_ like Sasuke. Maya had always questioned the sincerity of the older woman's feelings, and now she knew why. Because it was just admiration. A giggle escaped her lips without Maya realizing.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke asked, cutting into her thoughts.

"Huh?" The real world came back to her in a rush. "Oh," Maya smiled. "Nothing. I'm just happy."

"Hn."

Her smile grew at Sasuke's short answer. It felt like he was starting to act like his regular self somehow, even though she had no idea what that was like since she first met him when he was on a hell-bent mission to find Itachi and kill him. Thinking back to the older Uchiha, she still felt guilty about not being able to stop the inevitable. However, it was necessary for Sasuke's mangekyou sharingan to awaken, and now he was more powerful than he'd ever been before. There was a confidence in him that Maya could feel—had he been mindlessly following Madara's words, there was a chance he would've thought that the mangekyou sharingan was all he needed to take down all of Konoha.

That would have been a grave mistake, for in Konoha was a very powerful ninja. There was no way that even the dangerous eye technique that so few had mastered would be able to take him down, considering that ninja's own unique abilities. She snuck a glance at Sasuke, wondering what was going through his mind, and was glad that he decided to return to Konoha, the place his brother had tried so hard to defend. The misguided intentions of the Konoha elders had ruined a very important man's life, and even Maya felt some darkness in her heart thinking about it.

A light film came over her senses, almost like when she got sick in Akatsuki's hideout. _Shit_, she thought, forcing herself to push through it. Her head started throbbing mercilessly. They'd probably figured out from last time that it was a bad idea to wait.

"Sasuke…" she whispered, biting her lip.

"What?" he asked, oblivious at first, but when she didn't reply and slowed, alarm made him stop and kneel down to her level. Jugo and Karin, not expecting the sudden halt, flew forward a few feet before doubling back, curious. Sasuke had his hands on Maya's shoulders. He jerked them back immediately upon feeling the heat coming off of her, like before. "They're calling you back already?"

She nodded helplessly, reaching for his hands again.

"What's going on, Sasuke?" inquired Karin, a hint of worry in her voice.

Without waiting to hear his answer, Jugo picked Maya up and held her in his arms. He flinched at her burning skin but tried to ignore it. "Let's go. Whatever's wrong with her can be fixed in Konoha, right?"

Maya's body was wracked with a cough, making Sasuke blind with panic. What had made the darkness in her heart grow strong enough that they were able to call her back to the demon world again? It seemed like it was working faster this time, too.

"I-I don't know," Sasuke admitted uncertainly. "Maya?"

"I don't know how I closed it last time," she strained to say. "Konoha ninjas are skilled. If we're there, I'm sure they can…" A horrible-sounding cough stopped her from going on. Sasuke's eyes grew hard.

"Let's double our speed," he ordered resolutely, sending a huge amount of chakra to his feet. He bolted off in such a blur that Karin and Jugo had to fight to keep up. They sped through the trees at a rate they'd never travelled before. It was then that Karin realized the effect the demon child had on Sasuke. He'd never acted like he cared about anyone before, but the moment Maya started getting sick, he freaked out. What did that girl have that no one else did?

Maya, in her dazed state, tried to find the darkness in herself like before, in her sleep, but to no avail. Wind whipped past her face faster than before, notifying her of their incredible speed. Why were they rushing? Was it to save her? Karin and Jugo didn't understand what was going on, and it would benefit Sasuke if she were to return with greater powers than before. It made her head dizzier with confusion that Sasuke would be looking out for her since her wish had been to stay a child for a while longer.

She spaced out for a while, not sure of the time anymore. Although her physical body wasn't being sucked away, part of her soul was dragged into the demon world and she wasn't whole right then. When she looked at the sky, it was hard to tell if it was light or dark. The only reason she knew that night had fallen was because of Karin's voice.

"Shouldn't we make camp for the night?" Karin panted, exhausted at the constant high speed they'd been travelling at for the past few hours.

"No, we have to—" Stopping himself short, Sasuke glanced over his shoulder at his team. Maya, breathing hard and limp in Jugo's arms. Jugo, clearly tired and in pain from the heat of Maya's burning skin but not complaining. Karin, with sweat dripping from her face and leaning hard against a tree. She slipped, catching herself just before falling, which told Sasuke just how hard he'd been working them. And yet no one said anything until now. He felt bad for panicking, and nodded reluctantly.

"Is there water nearby?" Jugo asked with a strange look on his face. Once they were on the ground and had set out a blanket for Maya, he rolled the girl onto it, revealing his red arms.

"Jesus, Jugo!" the senser ninja exclaimed, immediately rolling up her sleeve. "You've got burns all over your skin! Here, bite me."

"No, it's fi—"

"Friggin' bite me," Karin snapped. Jugo obeyed and the burns healed. He sat back afterwards, gazing at Maya's pathetic form. With a sigh, Karin brushed the girl's hair back. "Imagine what she must be feeling."

"That's why I asked about the water," the larger man said. "We should try to cool her down."

"Karin." From a different direction, Sasuke returned to where his team was, surprising them all because no one had noticed him leave. He pointed over his shoulder. "There's a small lake a few hundred yards that way. Wrap Maya in a blanket so you don't get burns too and try to cool her down."

With a nod, Karin flipped the blanket's edges over Maya and picked up the bundled demon girl, carrying her in the direction Sasuke had come from. A long sigh escaped Sasuke's lips as he plopped to the ground, back against a tree and head titled upwards. Jugo watched his leader for a moment before saying, "You know what's happening to her, don't you."

Sasuke's eyes closed. "The same thing happened in Akatsuki's hideout."

"When she slept for a week? Is it really that serious?"

"I don't know." He shook his head as if that would make the bad thoughts go away. "She's a demon. I don't know how capable demons are compared to humans. Maybe she's just like a regular human child right now and can only take so much, especially when she's resisting…"

"How did she become so important to you?"

"…how?" Sasuke repeated. He didn't know himself. It could be because of her own attachment to him, but he'd experienced that many times before and he'd never really cared about any person in return. It could be because of her connection to Itachi and how, with her around, he never really lost the last pieces of his older brother. Or it could just be the way Maya was able to calm him down so easily and see through him like no other. To answer Jugo, he just shrugged. "I don't know. I just know that now, I want to protect her." He laughed shortly. "It's insane that she's the one who wanted to protect me, first."

Jugo smiled a little. His leader who had once been focused only on revenge and hate had been so deeply changed from just one meeting. It reminded him of himself who, before Kimimaro, had been so hopeless and filled with self-hatred. She was the one who could control Sasuke.

When Karin returned, Maya was dressed in a teddy bear t-shirt and dark blue pants that were easy to move in. The girl's long blonde hair was dripping wet, so Karin created wind to dry it before she set the girl down. "She's a little better than before, but I'd still be careful picking her up," she told him, revealing the pink marks on her arms that were like lighter versions of Jugo's injuries.

"Right," nodded Jugo.

"When the sun rises, we're going to make the last stretch towards Konoha," Sasuke announced.

"We're that close already?" the older female questioned in wonder.

"Well, we were running at the speed of light," Jugo said with a smirk.

"Sorry." The Uchiha smiled a little, seeing that they were still sticking around after all he'd put them through. "Anyway, we should be there by the time the sun's at its highest. By then, everyone should be up and working, so there won't be a problem with getting in. We'll probably be taken to the Hokage, questioned, put under guards, but despite all that, if Akatsuki were to come after us, they'd still protect us."

"You're sure about that?" Karin looked doubtful.

"Yes. Now get some sleep and don't worry about the future too much. It'll all work out." His teammates nodded, spreading out to find comfortable places to sleep. This time, they hadn't scouted out a clearing to sleep in, so in the middle of the forest, the best places were up in the trees. Sasuke chose to stay on the ground with Maya since he didn't want to risk her rolling out of the tree. He made sure his hand was only a few inches away from her so that if she moved, he would notice. Maya's eyes were shut tight, but it didn't look at all like she was sleeping. He hoped that she could rest a little before they headed off into dangerous territory.

As much as he tried to assure his team that everything would work out, he was still nervous that they would be treated as traitors worthy of execution.

When the sun finally rose, if possible, Maya looked worse than before. Sasuke worried that if they didn't get to Konoha in time, she would be completely sucked back into the demon world. No one said a word as they got two more blankets to wrap her in to keep Jugo from getting burned, and then they were off again. They were within two hours of the village when Karin suddenly gave a gasp and shouted, "Stop! Sasuke, Konoha is being attacked!"

"What?" he hissed, whipping around to look at his teammate. "By who?"

"I don't know! What should we do?" Eyes wide, Karin looked between him, Jugo, and finally rested her eyes on Maya. Leading that girl into a battle would practically be a death wish, but her condition might as well be, too, for all they knew.

"We have to go," Sasuke said with determination. Last night, he'd spent a good hour or two awake, thinking about what would happen if Maya's leash succeeded in pulling her back into the demon world. The girl hadn't mentioned it, but he figured there was a possibility she might never return if they saw that her main goal was now to protect a human. Without waiting to see their reactions, he started up again, running even faster than yesterday. He was relieved to hear that they still followed him.

"Will you fight for Konoha?" Karin shouted over the wind.

In his mind, Sasuke found himself realizing that this could be a great opportunity to win over Konoha's trust. "Of course!" he shouted back.

"Then we'll fight with you," Jugo added.

Karin nodded.

As they finally approached the Konoha gates, they found that only one person was standing there. Sasuke tried to formulate a plan in case the guard didn't let them through, but the man they encountered was someone they all knew. Skidding to a halt, Sasuke panted, no one saying a word until the ninja grinned.

"Long time no see, huh? Looks like you won't even need to lift a finger to take down Konoha."

"Welcome back, Suigetsu."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> The other day at a party, I met a four-year-old version of Maya. So cute. She held hands with my brother who's also four. :'D And thank you, reviewers! Your comments make my day. :)

Also, in case it was a little confusing, as Maya was thinking, hatred started forming inside her which made her "leash" activate. It's set to pull her back to the demon world once she harbors hatred, darkness, so that she can finally be a proper demon. The leash is pulling on her soul, so she's not completely there and that makes her sick.


	8. Missions

**Chapter 8:  
>Mission 1: Save Konoha<br>****Mission 2: Return to the Human World**

"What's wrong with Maya?" Suigetsu asked instantly upon setting eyes on her.

"She's being pulled back into the demon world," Sasuke answered, revealing her true situation to everyone there. "And by fighting it, she's making things worse."

"Then why doesn't she just go?" piped Karin in confusion.

Screams from the village distracted them all for a moment. Sasuke's fists clenched; he had a choice to make. He could either defend Konoha or take Maya to the hospital where a medic could start to try and understand the demon girl's condition. Mouth open in hesitation, he looked helplessly at Jugo. The larger man nodded in understanding.

"Go defend your village," he said. "I'll take her to someone who can help."

Relieved, Sasuke turned to Karin. "Go with him. You can use your tracking abilities to find the hospital. Suigetsu." He turned toward to water ninja as the other two sped off. "I'm glad you're back."

He shrugged indifferently. "Whatever. We can talk later. Let's go play hero." Suigetsu's teeth were bared in a shark-like smirk, which Sasuke sort of returned. The pair entered Konoha and took a moment to survey the damage before deciding where to go. At the very front, there wasn't much action, so they headed further in where jounin were evacuating frightened civilians. They were almost too busy to notice than an S-class missing-nin and his friend had strolled in until one with a spiky violent ponytail happened to look in their direction.

"Sasuke Uchiha?" she cried in shock and disbelief. "What the hell? Are you in on this too? 'Cause I'll fucking kill you!" Before waiting for an answer, she pulled a kunai from her pouch and charged at him, only to be cut off by Suigetsu.

"Don't attack the guy who came back to save your sorry asses," he said with a grin. "Who the hell do you think you are, anyway?"

"Anko Mitarashi." Sasuke stepped towards her cautiously, wary of the weapon she still had at the ready. Her eyes followed him with deadly precision. She had been at the chuunin exams when he was marked with the cursed seal that his brother had removed in their battle, but Anko wasn't so lucky. She was still a slave to the seal. They'd once had something in common, and she tried to save him at that time. "I'm not with whoever's attacking."

"Whoever?" she repeated with a snort. "As if you don't know that it's Akatsuki!"

His eyes narrowed at this information. "Who?"

"Pain." Anko straightened up in surprise. "You really don't know?"

"Of course not!" he snapped in frustration. "I didn't come here as back up! Two of my teammates are also in the city, heading for the hospital with a child who's been travelling with us. I had no idea what state the village was in until I was close enough to hear the chaos."

Sensing the truth in his words, Anko put her weapon away, nodding. "What do they look like? I'll see what I can do."

Thankful for her understanding, Sasuke briefly described his three teammates.

"Okay." Anko started to leave, then paused and turned around as an afterthought. "Others might not trust you as easily as I did just now. I know the difference between a ninja with blind hatred and a ninja that's changed. I wish you the best, Sasuke Uchiha."

_I wish you the best, Anko,_ Sasuke thought as she left. She too had been a victim of Orochimaru's evil, cunning mind. He was glad he'd killed the snake bastard for his sake, and now he was glad for other people's sake as well, something he hadn't thought of before. Suigetsu was waiting impatiently, tapping his foot, and his eyes lit up again when Sasuke started forward. The Uchiha fixed his senses on the highest concentration of power, surprised to find his old mentor's chakra mixed in with it, Kakashi Hatake. Pushing a burst of chakra to his feet, Sasuke jumped up a pile of rubble, making sure for a second that Suigetsu was behind him and then surging forward. He was met with a rising cloud of dust that blocked his vision.

When it cleared, the scene before him was horrific. Highly skilled ninjas lay strewn about as if they'd been tossed back by an explosion. Judging from the lone man with piercings standing in the middle, that was a likely theory. Movement suddenly started from the floor. Chouji was running away, but he wasn't fleeing for his life. It looked like he had a mission, which meant that he had to be protected.

"Suigetsu," Sasuke shouted with a nod at Chouji, and then he burst onto the scene. Before the pierced man had time to react, Sasuke was at eye-level with him, sharingan activated. Just as the genjutsu started to work, the man's chakra was disturbed by an outside force, and suddenly Sasuke was thrown backwards into a wall of rubble. Air left his lungs from the impact, but he was on his feet again, sword drawn.

"He controls gravity, but there are intervals between each use." Sasuke didn't need to look to know that it was Kakashi speaking. He nodded in acknowledgement. "They're short, so watch…" In a flash, his ex-pupil had charged at Pain. "…out." _I'm glad I got to see him come around before I died…_

The push of gravity forced Sasuke back once again. Gritting his teeth, he push a huge amount of his chakra into his feet, keeping them on the ground without question. It didn't do much, but when he used Chidori to cover his blade and attacked once more, he wasn't pushed back as far. Their game of push and pull came too close for Pain's comfort, so he jumped back and sent a huge force at Sasuke in the process. Teeth clenched, Sasuke braced himself for the impact, surprised when he wasn't pushed back at all.

He looked carefully at where Pain had been standing a moment ago. The water ninja was standing proudly with his sword in the ground. "The bastard was so focused on staying away from your eye techniques, he didn't notice me until I stabbed him through the heart."

Sasuke gave a small smile of approval. To make sure the guy was dead, he hopped up to his teammate and examined their kill. He frowned. "This isn't the same guy…"

"At least we killed one, right?"

An ominous feeling told Sasuke that they really should've killed that one. "Right," he agreed distantly, searching the area for another battle he could help out in. For a moment, he glanced at the sky, wondering if Maya had reached the hospital yet. That was when he noticed the man floating above the city. Nudging Suigetsu, he pointed upward. "That's the guy we just tried to kill, isn't it?" His hand gripped the sword tighter. There was no way he could get that high.

Suddenly, the man was gone. It was another minute or so before Sasuke climbed up as high as he could, hoping to scope out the village, when a giant explosion seemed to crush Konoha from the center. On the edge of town near the Hokage's building, Sasuke could only watch in horror as the city fell. People's screams rang out. His eyes frantically scanned the dust for someone, something familiar, but by the time it cleared, there was a new development. The place where he'd sensed the fifth Hokage, not far from him, was a huge frog, and on its head was Naruto Uzumaki.

_He's different…_ Sasuke thought, trying not to listen to Suigetsu's exclamation of "Holy shit!" over and over. "I'm going up there," he announced, referring to where Naruto had appeared. "You go see if the others survived that."

"But—" the water ninja started to protest.

"No. I need to go alone."

Sighing in resignation, Suigetsu jumped down to the rubble and started making his way in some unknown direction. Having never lived in Konoha himself, it was even more difficult to find the place that was once the hospital. The only thing that led him there was the shouts of, "We can't heal all these people!"

His eyes raked the crowd, landing on a pink-haired girl that seemed to take the lead. Suigetsu leaped down to her level, putting a hand on her shoulder, and instantly getting a punch in a the face that threw him a few good meters. Standing up in a flurry, he shouted, "What the hell was that for! I just wanted to ask about someone!"

"Sorry, but we're all a little on edge here," the pink haired girl snapped. Then she stopped to look at him. "You're not from Konoha…"

"I'm not part of the attack," he replied with a roll of his eyes. "I need to see a young girl who came here with a gentle giant-type guy and an annoying glasses girl."

"Can't help you," the girl responded, turning her back to him. "It's not like I have a memory of every person here. Really, there's more than we can handle right now, so either help or get lost."

"Tch." Even though he wasn't happy about Sasuke giving him this task—really not happy when he heard an explosion in Sasuke's direction, indicating a fight he wished he was a part of—he wanted to see Maya as well. When he left, she'd been the most openly disappointed, and she was perfectly healthy. The Maya he saw at the gates wasn't the cheerful little girl he knew. She looked like a rag doll that had been played with too much.

"Suigetsu! Over here!"

His head turned in the direction of Karin's voice. She was standing tall on a pile of rocks, waving frantically. Suigetsu rushed over immediately, worried by what looked like tears in her eyes. When he got closer, he could see that she was holding it back fiercely because the Maya that was on the ground in front of Jugo looked dead. There was absolutely no life in her. His hands balled into fists.

"What the hell?" he spat. "Was she knocked over the head by flying debris? Come on, Maya, don't joke around…"

"She's not here anymore," Jugo said flatly.

"We were too late," Karin added, her voice wavering.

"Sasuke said there's a possibility that she can return." Jugo looked up at Suigetsu whose eyes burned with fury. Despite denying it, the water ninja clearly held affection for Maya. It was hard for any of the group not to. He sat down with a huff, eyes on the place where Sasuke had run off to.

_Don't do anything stupid, Sasuke… When Maya comes back, she's going to need you._

* * *

><p>Arriving on scene, Sasuke stayed back at first. He'd learned from overhearing conversations on his way up that no one was to interfere with Naruto's battle and now that he was witnessing it first-hand, he understood why. This Sage Naruto was on a whole different level and anyone 'helping' would only be a burden to him. Realizing that his help was not needed, Sasuke moved back further so that anyone watching, most likely a Hyuga, wouldn't notice him.<p>

Sasuke watched the way Naruto fought, admiration growing inside him. The ninja he'd left all those years ago was nothing like the one before him, fighting six of Akatsuki on his own. He knew that when they met, they'd be expecting a stone-cold, ruthless ninja who cared about no one, so of course he'd have appearances to keep up. A smirk tugged at his lips. Maya would probably scold him for that. Once he was seen with that demon child, his acting would go to waste anyway. But the truth was, he still had a mission to do here in Konoha, one that his goody goody friends and mentors would certainly not approve of.

The mere thought of that made him go straight-faced again. What if, after completing his task, he was exiled, or worse, killed? _It'll be worth it_, the old Sasuke would have said. And a good portion of the new Sasuke thought that, as well. But Maya's voice in his head reprimanded him for that dark way of thinking. He cringed as Naruto's frog mentor was stabbed through the torso and killed. In some ways, Maya's bright, ideal thinking reminded him of Naruto. Seeing the orange-clad ninja battle furiously, he couldn't help but wonder what Maya's abilities were like.

Turning on his sharingan, he followed the fight with much more interest. He could see every move, anticipate every jutsu, and suddenly, he found out the truth about Pain. The chakra lines from his transmitters were visible in the air which he followed to a high area on the outskirts of Konoha. Just as he was getting ready to take off, hoping to help Naruto in a different way, his hands were cut through with a knife and stuck to the ground.

Sasuke hesitated. If he went on the scene right then, not only would it cause an uproar, but he wouldn't be able to tell anyone about Pain's location. He nearly lost it when Pain's transmitters were pushed into Naruto. Amazingly, his decision was made clear by Hinata's arrival. He took a moment to look over her, noting her new, more mature appearance and the strength behind her words.

"I won't let you lay a finger on Naruto! I'm here of my own free will. I was always chasing you, wanting to overtake you, I just wanted to walk with you. I was saved by you, so I'm not afraid to die protecting you! Because I… love you."

_Keep him safe, Hinata._ As Sasuke ran, he felt a huge release of demonic energy. "Shit, the nine-tails," he said, pushing forward faster. If he could kill the real Pain before Naruto did too much damage, everything would be fine. Identifying a paper tree as their 'tower', he ripped through the paper with his katana. There were two guards that immediately rushed at him which he took out easily with two slashes of his sword. In the light, he stood panting, facing a strange machine where a black-hair man, almost a skeleton, was hooked up. Beside him was a woman with a flower in her hair who stopped talking the moment Sasuke appeared.

"Who are you?" she demanded dangerously.

Thinking of Konoha, of all the destruction, of all his friends that had been hurt, Naruto who needed to be saved from himself, Maya who might be gone, Itachi who died protecting that village… His mangekyou sharingan activated as he stared the black-haired man in the eyes. _Rinnengan? Oh well, it's no match for Amaterasu_, thought Sasuke, gritting his teeth at the pain in his head and eye but forcing the black flames to crawl up the man's body and completely engulf him.

The man's cries died down, allowing him a few words before he was gone."Konan, forgive me… I couldn't achieve peace…"

"Nagato!" the woman screamed, turning on Sasuke in a panicked rage. The flames hadn't been put out yet, so Sasuke simply turned his eye on her. Her cries of anguish did nothing to stop him—it was the blurring of his eyesight and the blood that forced him to put the flames out. Charred but alive, Konan fell to the ground, unconscious. Sasuke stumbled under the agony of overusing his eyes. He moved back against a wall and, unable to hold himself up any longer, slid to the floor.

"Naruto…" he muttered, holding his hand to his eye to try and stop the bleeding. "I hope that saved you and made up for the time you tried to save me…"

It was a while before he reemerged from the dark unconsciousness that had taken over him. Eyes opened, he could see Naruto in the slit he'd made on the paper tree, staring at the empty machine and the woman on the ground. His eyes shifted to Sasuke slowly, mixed emotions that were undecipherable flashing across them. Tears welled up in Naruto's eyes that he rubbed away roughly.

"I came here thinking I'd try and talk to the guy who wanted peace, convince him that he was doing it the wrong way," Naruto said slowly, thrown off by the situation before him. "And here I find that my teammate who abandoned us all for Orochimaru and then Akatsuki was the one who killed the real Pain and saved Konoha. I don't know what to think, Sasuke… What's going on with you? What changed?"

"You'll meet her soon enough," he replied with a faint smile. _Will he?_ The question floated in his head, but he pushed it away. He definitely had to.

"So it's a girl?" Naruto grinned teasingly, reverting back to his usual hyper self and crouching next to his old friend. He elbowed him playfully. "What's she like? Big tits? Long blonde hair? Kind of like this?" Exploding into Sexy no Jutsu, Naruto winked at Sasuke and blew him a kiss.

Holding back a laugh, the Uchiha shook his head. "Nah, she's much smaller."

Naruto returned to his regular self, making a face. "Don't tell me you had a daughter?"

Chuckling, Sasuke clutched his head in pain, stopping almost instantly. "No, but I'll explain later. Do you think we could go back now?" He didn't mention his deteriorating eyesight, acting as if his request was because of battle wounds.

"Yeah, sure," the blonde haired ninja agreed, pulling one of Sasuke's arms over his shoulder in order to support the Uchiha. "Wow, I can't believe you're back. Imagine the reactions of everyone!"

"Yeah…" Sasuke wasn't looking forward to that part too much.

* * *

><p>With one final gasp, Maya felt her soul being sucked completely away. Her body was left behind—she worried that they'd think she was dead and feared the look on their faces when they realized she was gone. In the darkness, it felt like a vacuum, pulling her fast and hard through an unknown tunnel. At the end, she was spit out onto the mud-caked ground of her demon house. It was almost temple-like on the outside, but all the walls on the inside were knocked down so it was a huge open area that she was now in the middle of. A circle of old demons surrounded her, all sitting cross-legged.<p>

"Risu!" cried an achingly familiar voice. Before she had a chance to do anything at all, a large wolf demon leaped at her, knocking her to the ground. Here, Maya had reverted into her true demon form—a squirrel, but ten times the size of a regular human squirrel with a few differences in color. The wolf that had attacked her was Maya's best friend, Oukami. She patted the demon on the back, only managing a short chuckle at the girl's enthusiasm that used to always make her happier.

"Hey, Ouka-chan," Maya replied in a strained voice. "You're heavier than I remembered…"

With a huff, Oukami jumped off of Maya and sat down obediently, letting her old best friend sit up as well. "That's the worst way you could greet me," the wolf demon accused unhappily. "I really missed you, Risu-chan. Did the human world make you into the baddest, evilest demon ever?"

In the demon world, her name was Risuka, a stupid name that meant squirrel because that's what she'd been born as, with an added "beautiful" for good measure. Maya had never liked it, choosing her own name when she arrived in the human world based on the first book she read about some ancient ruins. The human world had changed her in the nicest demon that had ever existed, but if they knew, they'd never send her back there, so she grinned and confidently replied, "Of course!"

Ouka squealed in delight. "All right!"

The rest of the people in the circle sat quietly, their eyes still not open. She looked at her friend in confusion. "What's up with them?"

"Oh, the old hags? They're performing a sealing ritual so that the rift that brought you here closes," Ouka explained with her usual airheaded cluelessness, not even reacting when Maya's face turned to one of horror.

_If they close it, that body will definitely look dead to them! _She searched the area frantically. Along the walls were hundreds of severed heads, all as trophies for the victories of her father and mother, and along the furthest wall was a collection of human weapons, almost like a museum. A lot of people came to visit just to see the amazing things her mother and father had collected over the years, including vases and human paintings. It fascinated demons who'd never been to the human world, but to Maya, they were mocking the humans she'd meet and loved.

But among it all, there was nothing that could break a ceremony like the ones the old demons were performing. Maybe if she stepped outside the circle… Ouka started to say something as Maya moved towards the edge, but she found out soon enough when she exited and a collective roar went up from the five demons in a circle.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, stupid girl?" shrieked one.

"Get back in the middle or we can't seal the rift!" another commanded.

Ouka watched with wide eyes, mouthing for Maya to get back in or there would be serious consequences.

"Risuka…"

Without looking for the source of the voice, Maya hopped back in the circle. The old hags calmed down immediately, as if nothing had happened, and that was when Maya saw her mother entering from the far room next to the wall of weapons. Her mother was an extraordinarily high-level demon with four tails. She had eleven at one point in time, but seven had been sealed by a human. Her father had similar experiences, which caused her parents to believe that if Maya saw the human world, her hatred would grow tenfold. But they just hadn't met the right humans.

"I'm glad to see you're back," she said in that sickly sweet voice of hers. Her animal was a kangaroo, but one with elegance that no Earthly kangaroo possessed. She came to the circle, pushing Ouka out of the way in order to talk to her daughter. "This must mean that you've succeeded in harboring hatred. Your eagerness to keep the rift from being sealed… What was that about?"

"I have to go back!" Maya answered with a feral growl, hoping that her lying would be convincing. "There's a human I must absolutely return to kill. Mother, I can't go on without killing this man. Please, allow me to return."

Her mother's black kangaroo eyes looked around as she considered her daughter's request. "What is this man's name?"

"Madara Uchiha."

The demon queen's teeth were bared in fury. Maya knew that she'd chosen the right person's name to use. Snarling, her mother's lashing tails almost knocked over one of the old demons as they stood, finished with their sealing. "Sit back down!" she ordered loudly. The old demons jumped with surprise but did as told.

"Is there something else we must do for Young Master Risuka?" asked one politely, knowing not to anger the demon queen any further.

"Send her back in a stronger body than before!"

"We can't create one with any more power, age, or experience than Young Master Risuka already has…"

"Whatever," the queen growled. "Just do as much as you can. Risu." The kangaroo demon looked at her daughter with something like a proud smile on her face. "I'm thrilled you've decided to realize what it means to be a demon. For that reason, when they send you back this time, I will take off the soul leash. Return when you are satisfied. If there are any more humans you wish to kill…" She grinned dangerously. "Please do."

"Wait, mother. Father once told me about partners, a demon and a human. I know that there are a lot of cases like with… them… but what if I find mine?" She tried to sound completely innocent and afraid, as if she didn't want a partner.

"Ah, a true human partner is rare, so you don't need to worry about that," the queen laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh. The question seemed to make her calm instantly, darkness more apparent in the air around her. "I had one once—the only time I ever liked a human, but then she went and got herself killed." Her face scrunched up in bitterness. Maya thought that if it was possible for someone as full of hatred as her mother to like even one human, then maybe she could forgive Maya for liking Sasuke. "Anyway, if that does happen, you'll know. But be careful. Humans with demon partners sometimes lose control of themselves, drunk on power."

With that, the demon queen was gone and the old hags had gone back to their strange whispering in order to make a new body for Maya since her old one had been severed from having any more souls sent into it. Ouka was still sitting like an obedient little dog, eyes giant with confusion. "Risu? Are you sure…?" the wolf demon whispered, leaning forward towards her old friend. "The human world is… It seems scary."

Maya smiled reassuringly. "It's not scary at all," she promised. They chatted about what had been going on in the demon world while Maya had been gone and partially about what the human world was like, but it was hard to talk about when she was trying to make it seem like an awful place. After a while, Maya felt a tug on her soul. She suddenly stopped talking, giving Oukami a sad smile.

"This time, I don't know when I'll ever come back, but of the entire demon world, I'll miss you the most."

With that, Maya's form disappeared from the demon world, and Ouka felt tears prickle her eyes. "Why do I feel like I'll never see her again?" she wondered, leaving the temple with her tail down.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> SO MUCH GOING ON. I hate battle scenes, so I usually try to skip over details as much as I can get away with and then make up for it with other things! Forgive me? (: I bet this fic is riddled with mistakes, since I don't usually have the patience to look over what I wrote, so I'm terribly sorry for the quality. Please still continue to read. I've written a couple chapters ahead and I'm reeeeally liking the Konoha arc! That was strange to think about… My fic has an arc. o.o


	9. Start of a Beginning

**Chapter 9: Start of a Beginning**

Seeing Kakashi arrive to help Naruto was a huge surprise. When Sasuke had left, he was sure that his old mentor was almost on his last breath. The questions were apparent in his eyes because the silver-haired man said, "Everyone's coming back to life. I guess when the real Pain died, his effects wore off." He didn't seem to want to talk anymore, wary of Sasuke in some way.

The Uchiha was expecting this sort of reaction. "You can take Naruto back now. I'll wait here. They all expect their hero to return, not some criminal."

"But you killed the real Pain!" protested Naruto.

Kakashi shook his head. "No, Sasuke is right. The whole village is waiting for you." He seemed to smile under the mask. Turning towards Sasuke, he took out some rope and died his hands to a nearby tree, giving him a quick apology before turning to help Naruto who was exhausted, as he should be after nearly transforming into a full nine tails.

"Wait, Kakashi, do you really have to do that?" He didn't seem thrilled with the idea of tying up his old friend as if he was a bad guy. "He came back on his own!"

"It's not that I don't trust Sasuke," he said, though the look in his eyes told a different story. "I just don't want anyone to hear of this and think that I'm biased in any way just because he used to be a pupil of mine."

"I guess that makes sense…" Naruto conceded. "We'll come back as soon as we can, and I'll try and find your girl!"

Sasuke gave him a smile that was hardly one at all, but given his circumstances, it was good enough.

With that, they took off, but Naruto's parting words to his ex-teammate left Kakashi curious. "His girl?" he asked once they were out of earshot.

"When I asked what changed his mind, he said I'd meet her soon," explained the blonde ninja. "At first I wasn't sure how to find her, but if it's someone who made Sasuke come back, she'll probably be easy to spot."

Hearing that, Kakashi's mind was immediately drawn back to that day when they found a young girl who, to the others, only smelled of Sasuke. But through talking to her, Kakashi had learned that she actually knew the boy they were searching for and had some sort of connection with him. Could it be her? He also wondered if the others Sasuke had travelled with were here as well. If they were, they'd be even easier to spot since they would normally be jounin, probably, yet no one would know them.

"You're right," Kakashi agreed. "But for now, let's focus on the village."

They passed through the last bit of trees where the entirety of Konoha was before them, cheering for the return of their hero who had once been the boy everyone was afraid of.

_You've come a long way, Naruto, _he thought. _And I hope I'll be able to say the same for Sasuke._

It was a couple hours before anyone came back for Sasuke, but he sat there the entire time obediently without trying to escape. He'd had a lot of time to think about how to take down the three elders in such a way that no one would know it was him, but of course, people would be suspicious no matter what. That meant there would have to be a scapegoat. Not being in Konoha for so long narrowed his choices, which meant that he'd have to stick around for a while and observe people to see who he could use.

All throughout his planning, a small voice would chirp, "This is wrong, Sasuke. This isn't what your brother wanted," to which he always replied, "To Itachi, my life was more important than the village. It's the same way for me." It didn't satisfy the voice, however, which was easily identifiable as Maya's. He wondered if she'd press her forehead to his and whisper calming words that sent the darkness in his heart away within an instant if she were there, but she wasn't, so he kept feeding the hatred.

His thoughts had calmed after a while on their own, making him think that maybe he had really started to see the wrong in his ways. Until he told himself it wasn't nearly as wrong as what they did to his clan, though. The conflict in his head didn't help the headache he got from using Amaterasu on his own for the first time. Around sunset, he heard footsteps coming from the direction of the village, and he sat up straight, dispelling all his evil thoughts.

To his surprise, Sakura had come alone. She wore an unreadable expression as she neared, even as she untied him, to which he only said, "Thanks," while he rubbed his wrists. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a blur of motion that he blocked quickly by grabbing it. Sakura's fist was mere inches away from contacting with his face. She gritted her teeth, raising her other fist, which he caught as well. He stared at her in astonishment, unsure what to do about the angry tears in her eyes, when suddenly she started screaming at him.

"What the hell did you think you were going to accomplish by leaving to train with Orochimaru, hah? There are strong ninjas here in Konoha, you idiot, you just didn't look hard enough! Look how Naruto turned out! If that knuckle headed ninja could get so strong, you would've surpassed him in no time! Why'd you have to be so stupid? And then Akatsuki, too? _What the hell were you thinking?_"

By the time she finished, tears were streaming down her face freely and she was panting.

"I thought you'd never come back," she said more quietly, but she didn't meet his eyes. Sasuke slowly lowered her fists, which she responded to by snaking her arms around his waist and sobbing into his chest. "I thought Team 7 as we knew it was gone forever!"

"That Team 7 _is_ gone," answered Sasuke. It didn't feel like this was a reunion between someone with unrequited love, just someone who had dearly missed what once was. Sakura had changed, like Naruto and probably everyone else. The Konoha Sasuke was returning was not the one he left. "But I'm back now."

She nodded furiously, holding on tighter as if she feared that letting go would cause him to float away like a balloon. "Naruto didn't tell us that you were back until he really couldn't keep it a secret anymore." Sakura backed off of Sasuke, rubbing the tears away. "Some man named Danzou is now Hokage since Tsunade is in a coma from how much energy she used to protect the village. He said it was now acceptable to dispose of you as a missing-nin. Our new teammate, Sai, is being kept from talking about him by a seal on his tongue, but he said they do a lot of dirty deeds to keep Konoha safe… I can't trust Danzou. We need Tsunade to wake up!"

"What am I supposed to do about it?" He could understand that she was updating him on what was going on with the village, but he didn't know what she wanted from him. There wasn't much he could do… but he knew someone who could! Thinking of Karin, he realized that her biting technique would probably get enough chakra into Tsunade to wake her up. "Wait, I know. We have to find the people I travelled with. One of them has an ability that might be able to get Tsunade to wake up."

Sakura stared at him strangely, making him uncomfortable.

"What?"

"Nothing," she smiled. "It's just great to see that you really are on our side. Part of me was afraid that you'd changed so much, you couldn't be saved… I wasn't even sure of what your motives were. Revenge on Itachi, but I heard that you already got that, so I didn't know what to expect."

He shrugged, uneasy about the turn of the conversation. "There wasn't much after that," he lied.

"What do they look like? Maybe I saw them while I was at the hospital."

"They should've brought someone in, an eight-year-old girl with blonde hair. The others were a Seven Swordsman ninja, a senser ninja with glasses, and a large man with a cursed seal. Their names are Suigetsu, Karin, and Jugo, and they're with the child named Maya."

"Oh. I think I hit one of them," she said, reminiscing.

"Silvery hair?" At her nod, he chuckled. "That's Suigetsu. Do you remember where they were?"

"Well, I can take you to where the hospital used to be…"

"Won't people notice me?"

"You're right. I'll search for them on my own, and I'll come back with the news." She gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry to leave you here again." He didn't say anything as she disappeared into the forest. Sighing, he sat down again.

Sakura felt like she was on a cloud as she leaped over branches to get back to the edge of Konoha. Though it was in the process of being rebuilt, it was still mostly in ruins and didn't look much like the place she once knew. She hurried through the rubble, ignoring most calls of her name, and headed straight for the hospital. Sasuke's return had brought back emotions she'd forgotten about, but they'd weakened so much that it worried her. Where was the love she'd once felt for him? Or was it always just admiration? That was how it had turned out for Ino, so it seemed like a good explanation.

However, she'd been with Sasuke for much longer than her old best friend. What she felt for him now was closer to a familial love, sort of like with Naruto. Once in the hospital, she asked around for a bit, but it was no use, so she went back to the place where she'd hit that water ninja. Standing on a rock, Sakura scanned the area, blocking out the setting sun with one hand. It was easy to pick them out amongst the mostly plain-clothed Konoha civilians, and even easier against the green-vested ninjas of the village. As she neared them, the air got heavier.

The girl with glasses looked up, noticing Sakura approaching them. "Are you Karin?" asked Sakura, almost not remembering the name Sasuke had given her.

The woman, more likely, kept a straight face. "Who wants to know?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno," she replied, climbing up to their spot where the large man sat rigid in front of a blanket and the Seven Swordsmen ninja was sitting off a few yards, staring at nothing. "I'm Sasuke's…" Her words caught in her throat. Seeing the tiny blonde-haired girl lying on the blanket, motionless, with absolutely no chakra, made her stomach do flips. In her line of work, she saw dead bodies often enough, but a child? She almost couldn't handle it, feeling tears prickle her eyes again, despite not knowing the girl who was probably really cute when she was alive.

That thought sparked a memory in her mind of a time not that long ago when, as they were tracking Sasuke, they picked up a girl lying naked on the ground who smelled of the Uchiha boy. Amazingly, this was that exact girl.

"Is her name Maya?" she whispered, unable to speak louder, fearing that her voice would shake.

"Yes," the man answered when Karin couldn't.

_If this was the girl who changed Sasuke… what will happen to him now?_ Sakura wondered.

"Isn't there somewhere we can take her?" a strained voice asked. She refocused on the situation at hand, looking over to see that the water ninja had climbed up to the platform where the girl lay as well.

"Uh, yes. But I'd like a favor from you," she said, shifting her eyes to Karin. The senser ninja was surprised. "Sasuke said you had an ability that might get our Hokage out of her coma." A wave of relief washed over Sakura when Karin nodded. They'd be saved from whatever skewed ideals Danzou had. "Good. Once the Hokage is awake, I'll see what we can do for her, especially since she's someone important to Sasuke and his return will bring a lot of controversy to Konoha."

"Should I go with you now, then?" Karin asked, standing up. There was a hard resolve in her voice that hadn't been there before.

"Yes, I'll lead you to the tent." She looked at the two men, not sure what to do about them. Carrying a dead girl around would probably be a strange thing, but the larger one was already wrapping the girl in her blanket and standing up as well. Sakura nodded, and then headed off, making sure they could keep up as she went. At the entrance, she ducked through first, motioning for them to wait.

"I have someone who might be able to fix Tsunade's condition," Sakura told Shizune whose eyes widened in shock. "It's not someone from Konoha, but I'd like to trust her."

"Anything that will keep Danzou from being in control," Shizune responded with a quick nod.

Sakura left the tent for a moment to bring Karin in. She watched in fascination as the glasses girl rolled up her sleeve and pried Tsunade's mouth open, making the Hokage bite down on her arm. After a while, Karin pulled her arm back, swaying in exhaustion. Shizune caught the girl who was on the verge of unconsciousness, lying her down gently, as they waited in silence for Tsunade to wake up. Not even half a minute passed before her eyes were open again, blinking hard at the ceiling.

"Tsunade-sama!" cried Shizune.

"Wha…" The Hokage sat up slowly, noticing to girl on the ground with confusion. "Who's she?"

"The one who brought you back," Sakura answered. "Her name is Karin. She's… with Sasuke."

Tsunade's eyes shot open much wider, her jaw automatically clenching, but she relaxed long enough to spit out, "_What_?"

Fidgeting, Sakura explained, "Sasuke has returned, but the thing is, he was travelling with a young girl and she… It seems like she died somehow. I think we could consider this girl's role in Sasuke's return, because according to Naruto, it's the girl who changed him. We can't just dismiss her."

The Hokage quickly glanced at Shizune, exchanging a similar look of bewilderment before nodding to her apprentice. "Bring her to me, then."

Sakura executed a quick bow, ducking out of the tent and returning with the two men. "These two are Jugo and Suigetsu, and in the blanket is Maya," Sakura introduced. Jugo was still holding Maya wrapped in the blanket which covered her face. When Tsunade motioned to set the girl down, Jugo obeyed, flipping the blanket off so that she wasn't covered anymore. The Hokage sucked in a sharp breath.

"So young…" she muttered, kneeling next to the girl. She ran a hand over the body, confirming that she was dead. Then she looked up at the men and asked, "How did she die?"

"She was a demon. Her soul was sucked back into the demon world," replied the larger man.

Not even trying to hide her shock, Sakura's jaw dropped. "A demon? Like the demon sealed inside of Naruto?"

Suigetsu snorted. "You shouldn't have told them something like that, Jugo," he scolded, arms crossed as he leaned against a pole that kept the tent up. "Now they're going to look at her with those eyes." He glared at Sakura for a second before continuing. "Maya didn't act like a demon at all, just a sweet little girl, so don't think she was a threat. She deserves what any child should've gotten, dying at this young age." Suigetsu's voice accurately conveyed his anger, making Sakura regret reacting so strongly.

But Tsunade understood better, having experience with deaths more so than her pink-haired apprentice. She stood back up, facing the water ninja with eyes that showed her understanding. "You're right, but if that's true, she isn't really dead," she said. "This body is simply empty now. The true Maya is in the demon world and may even return."

"Don't get our hopes up like that," snarled Suigetsu, dropping his arms and balling his hands into fists. "She's nothing like a demon! They'll never let anyone like her, who wants to _protect humans_, return to our world."

"Believe in her," Tsunade said softly, trying to calm the boy. "If she truly feels the need to return, she will."

His fists shook for a moment, and then he released them, exiting the tent brashly. Jugo remained in the same place, watching the Hokage the entire time. He only had one question. "What will happen to Sasuke?"

From the corner of her eye, Tsunade could see Sakura stiffen, so she tried to make her answer as positive as possible. "By all reasoning, Sasuke should be executed. However," she added when Sakura flinched, "it looks as if he's come back to Konoha of his own free will, bearing no hatred. Since killing his brother was his goal from the beginning, there is nothing left for him to accomplish. He poses no threat to Konoha itself—at least, that's what a jury would find, based on his actions." That last part was directed at Jugo who knew more about the Sasuke who existed now than the Konoha ninjas in the tent with him. He recognized this challenge, choosing to use his quiet nature to his advantage and simply nod.

Turning to her assistant, Tsunade started giving orders. "Take the girl to the hospital. She saved Konoha from losing its leader in this time of need. Find out if the council has elected anyone to take my place yet—"

"They chose Danzou," Sakura interrupted, clearly unhappy with their decision.

Tsunade's eyes hardened. "Then it's a good thing that girl helped me when she did," she acknowledged. "As for Sasuke and his teammates, put them in separate holding cells until I can gather an _unbiased_ jury to take on Sasuke's case. That'll take me up to three days, considering the state of Konohagakure right now. This body has no possibility of a soul returning to it—the rift that allowed her soul to be taken was closed, so whatever form she returns in will be nothing like this one. Alert guards around the village to be on a lookout for someone with demonic energy, and to notify me immediately if she's found."

Taking a breath, Tsunade waved a hand at Jugo, signaling him to leave while she rattled more things off to Shizune, also asking about how reconstruction was going and leader things like that. After Jugo had left, carrying Karin over his shoulder and Maya in his other arms, Sakura gazed at her sensei nervously. "Tsunade-sama, we can't have him lug around a dead body until we get them in holding cells. Should we bury her…?"

"No, take her to the morgue for now," the Hokage answered distractedly. "If Maya ever does come back, we'll let her decide. Inform Kakashi about my decision regarding Sasuke and his team and have him take them to the prison, but make sure they know that it's just until Konoha is out of this chaos, not because we want them to feel like prisoners."

Nodding curtly, Sakura left to go find Kakashi. When she did, he wasn't with Naruto, so she was able to explain everything freely. The copy ninja left to retrieve Sasuke while she took the rest of the team to the hospital in order to drop Karin off with a nurse and take Maya's body to the morgue. Jugo looked uncomfortable the whole time, opting to stay outside with Suigetsu while Sakura went about her business. As she ran down a flight of stairs towards the exit, Sakura bumped straight into a blur black, orange, and blonde.

"Naruto!" she gasped, catching herself by grabbing his shoulder.

He grinned. "Hey, Sakura. I heard you were dealing with Sasuke's situation pretty well. I'm glad you're feeling better."

A light blush touched her cheeks at the compliment. "Yeah, well, it's been a while. I'm just happy he's back," she said, removing her hand from his shoulder as she looked up. "I mean, as a teammate, not a love-crazed fangirl."

"That's great!" Naruto exclaimed. "Now we can all have fun together again!"

"Fun?" came Suigetsu's voice from behind Naruto. The blonde ninja turned, confused at the glare the water ninja was giving him. Suigetsu looked past him to Sakura, saying, "You were taking too long so I came to get you. Sasuke's almost here."

Naruto's eyes lit up. Excitedly, he asked Sakura, "So he's okay to stay here, right? Granny Tsunade said they were gonna be in holding cells until—"

"Holding cells?" Suigetsu snapped. "What the hell? We're prisoners? I saved your sorry asses from one of those Pain guys, actually! Not even a fucking thanks and I get thrown in jail?"

"You did?" The look on Naruto's face was one of surprise, but also confusion because he didn't understand why this ninja would help them.

"It's just until Konoha settles down," Sakura cut in, trying to calm the situation. "Come on, let's get out of here for now, people are staring." She led them both out of the hospital to the side of the building where Jugo was standing with Sasuke and Kakashi. The fury and pure unhappiness on Sasuke's face clearly showed that he'd heard about Maya, but Naruto didn't catch on right away.

"Sasuke!" he grinned, rushing over to pat his old friend on the back. "It's great to see you with Konoha in the background after so long! This scene fits you a lot better."

The Uchiha didn't respond, causing the air to thicken with awkward tension.

"Naruto," hissed Sakura, motioning for him to come to her side while Kakashi took the lead and announced that they'd be going now. She turned her head towards him to whisper as they walked, "Someone important to Sasuke just died, in a way. There's a chance that she'll come back, but the body she's been inhabiting all this time is basically an empty vessel."

"It's the girl that caused him to change, isn't it?" he finally realized.

"Yes, so be more sensitive," reprimanded Sakura.

Naruto nodded empathetically. After losing his mentor, Jiraiya, he developed a deeper understanding of what it meant to lose someone important. He thought he knew back when he fought Sasuke at the Valley of End. Looking back on it, no wonder nothing he said got through to his teammate. Before he'd even gotten to know his parents, he'd lost them. Between that and losing Jiraiya, there was a huge difference that hadn't allowed him to see things on Sasuke's level or begin to comprehend the hatred in his heart.

He watched the back of his former teammate and somehow even that seemed lonely. Naruto found himself wishing as hard as he could for the girl's return, however it was possible.

Suddenly feeling like she couldn't keep it to herself anymore, Sakura whispered, ""Do you remember when we were tracking Sasuke and we found that girl? She was only with us for a short while but…"

His blue eyes went wide. "No way! _Her?_"

"Yeah. Remember how she clung to you?" the pink-haired ninja giggled, thinking back to how Naruto had rejected her then. "Can you believe she could have that sort of effect on _Sasuke_? Seems like he'd be the type to hate little kids. Well, I suppose she did seem a bit more mature than a regular kid from the way she talked to Kakashi and went off on her own like that. I guess she found Sasuke in the end."

"I'm glad she did."

Sakura nodded in agreement, but a part of her wondered if they weren't putting this girl on too high of a pedestal. After all, she _was_ a demon, like the one sealed inside of Naruto. She could just be tricking them all to think she was an innocent little girl while, in reality, she wanted to get close to Sasuke in order to use his hatred. Perhaps he really was infiltrating Konoha from the inside and there was absolutely no change in the way he saw things, and Maya was actually an awful influence.

For some reason, that idea didn't linger.

"Sakura, Naruto." Kakashi's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up at her sensei. "I'm going to take them in. Why don't you help Inari and his grandfather with rebuilding? You can tell them that Sasuke's back now."

Smiling, the two of them took off, waving goodbye to their ex-teammate.

Kakashi led Suigetsu and Jugo into one cell and placed Sasuke into a separate one. Locking the door, he paused for a moment to look at his former student. "I don't really know where to start with you," he sighed.

"Then don't say anything," Sasuke returned.

Scratching the back of his neck, Kakashi frowned. "I can't really do that. There's too much to talk about. But I guess I'll let you be alone for now." Sasuke pointedly stared at the ground, waiting for Kakashi to leave. "You'll know right away if she comes back."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I almost feel like I overexaggerated Maya's importance in this chapter, but I hope not too much? How I managed to do that without actually having her appear once I don't know. xD Thank you so much for reading, especially mikachan for reviewing every chapter that comes out! You'll be happy to hear that Maya won't be a squirrel forever. ;P


	10. So This is Konoha

**Chapter 10: So This is Konoha**

Maya stared at her strange reflection in the water. Her hair was in the same style as in her first body, two buns on top, one on each side, with the rest of her hair flowing to mid-back. The color was different, though, with reddish brown coloring over most of it except for a black streak down the middle. Freckles dotted her cheeks, russet-colored. Eyes that had once been huge, filled with childish innocence and honey-brown in color were now similar in color to tree bark.

Unlike her simple clothes last time, she was wearing a form-fitting forest green vest over black capris with a brown belt of weapons hanging loosely from her hips. Black arm protectors reached up to her elbows on each arm sporting fingerless holes that reminded her of the gloves that Karin had gotten her what felt like ages ago. As she went to move some hair out of her eyes, she noticed that her bangs had grown a bit, and also that her nails were long and sharp. The last things she noticed were her bare feet.

This body was closer to her true age. Taking into account that the demon world's time was much faster when compared to the human world's, she calculated herself to be about 21, but still her body was a bit younger than that. She hoped that the reason was because the old hags had put too much energy into letting her power be at maximum capacity. Cupping the water of the small stream in her hangs, Maya drank it, only realizing after a taste how thirsty and incredibly hungry she was.

Brushing off her knees, Maya got up and turned towards Konoha. The moment she awakened on Earth once again, she'd felt waves of mixed emotions that almost suffocated her before she could use her new control to stifle it. As a child, nothing she did could stop the bombardment of people's inner workings. It was a huge relief, but once she turned the switch back on, sadness, exhaustion, hope, and everything in between emanated from the village. Their capability to move forward after such a great disaster brought a smile to her face as she watched Konoha be rebuilt. She wondered how Sasuke could ever harbor hatred when only a few were the root of evil whereas a vast majority were wonderful people.

Maya started down the slope she was on, not getting very far before a girl with white eyes and dark blue hair startled her from ahead.

"Is your name Maya?" the girl shouted across the distance. Switching on her abilities, Maya could even go so far as to probe the girl's memories. They held the face of a happy Naruto, contrasted with other recent memories of a Naruto with hopeless anger and unhappiness, with mixes of Sasuke's face and other people and the further she looked the more mixed it became, making her dizzy, so she shut off her abilities. When Hinata spoke again, she was closer, almost directly in front of Maya.

"If you don't answer, I'll have no choice but to take you back in chains," Hinata threatened, but Maya knew from seeing into her that it was a stretch to say something like that. It was really quite convincing otherwise.

"Some know me as Maya, but my true name is Risuka," she confessed, bowing deeply. "It is a pleasure to meet someone so close to a friend of Sasuke's."

"Wh-what?" stammered Hinata, retreating back into her old habits due to surprise.

Not getting the reaction she wanted, Maya immediately stood back up straight. "Sorry! If that was too much…" She trailed off nervously, squeezing her eyes shut in chagrin and fisting her hand in the material of her vest.

"I-It's alright…" the Hyuga blinked, thinking that meeting a demon would be a lot more frightening. It almost felt like she was meeting a child. Maya opened one eye tentatively, triggering a giggle from Hinata that was stifled right away. She cleared her throat, embarrassed by the outburst, but it seemed to loosen Maya back up. "No matter who you are, I have to take you to the Hokage, Ma… Risuka?"

"You can call me Maya for now," she allowed. "I would only use that name as a tribute to the demon I once was."

"Aren't you still a demon?" Hinata questioned as if she'd heard wrong.

"I suppose," said Maya thoughtfully, "but I don't really feel like one anymore."

Hinata wasn't sure how to respond to that sort of thing since she didn't have any experience with demons besides Naruto, and the Kyuubi certainly didn't have manners like this girl. Or woman, she thought, noting that Maya in this form was a little older than herself. The idea she'd gotten from Naruto was that she'd be a child; specifically, the one they'd found a few weeks ago.

Maya's reappearance was a five days after Konoha's destruction. There was a lot to brief her on, especially regarding Sasuke's current situation, but Hinata decided to leave that to the Hokage. She looked at the demon girl anxiously, wondering how to go about taking her in. The Hyuga opened her mouth to speak, but Maya interrupted as if she'd read her mind—something that would make sense, considering a couple of the strange things she'd said earlier.

"Let's go, right?" Maya grinned cheerfully. "I'm excited to see the inside of Konoha!"

Hinata could tell that she was avoiding the subject of Sasuke entirely, perhaps out of nervousness. But for him or for her own sake about reuniting with him, she couldn't tell. Nodding, Hinata spun around and jogged down the steep hill. She stared in shock as Maya tumbled down the hill, yelling happily as she rolled down, laughing at the bottom and panting.

"I never really got to enjoy hills the last time I was here," she explained sheepishly when Hinata joined her at the bottom. Maya stuck out a hand, asking for help, which caught the Hyuga off guard once again, but she complied, pulling the demon girl to her feet. With a giant smile that reminded her of Naruto, Maya said, "Thanks!" and then skipped off, following the wall that caged the village. Hinata nearly had to run to keep up.

"Maya-san, please slow down!" called Hinata tiredly. She couldn't act cool and run after a girl older than herself at the same time. It felt sort of ridiculous.

Long hair whipping in the wind, Maya stood still, waiting for the byakugan user to caught up. Her arms were spread wide, eyes closed, enjoying the breeze. From behind, it was the first time Hinata noticed the black stripe down the middle of Maya's hair and when the light of the setting sun hit the girl's face, she also noticed the scattered, light freckles on her cheeks. Wondering if it was related to her demon animal, Hinata stored the question for another time, focusing instead of getting this hyperactive girl to Konoha's gates.

"I'm sorry for being so up-beat," apologized Maya after a short break from talking and running and jumping.

"That's not something to apologize for," she admonished, sending the older girl a small smile.

"Well, I mean, it's almost like you don't know what to do with me."

"…that's true, but it's not a bad thing."

Maya grinned happily. "Okay! I think I'm like this 'cause I just got reminded of how awful that place was," she tried to explain, suppressing a shudder.

"The demon world?" Hinata clarified.

"Yeah. It's basically like hell there. I could never walk barefoot there or I'd burn my feet," said Maya, holding up her foot before realizing that she needed both feet to walk and stumbling. She caught herself before Hinata even saw that she was about to fall, resulting in a glimpse at the demon girl's quick reflexes. Even Maya was surprised at how fast she could move, forgetting that she was at full power this time, not restricted by anything like size or seals.

They reached the gate faster than expected. Hinata went ahead to the guards at the gate, Maya a few paces back and watching as the Hyuga explained the situation. After a minute, Hinata returned and put a hand behind the demon girl's back and led her forward as the gates opened a crack.

"Best of luck," said one of the guards, which Hinata responded to with a nod.

Entering Konoha left Maya with a strange sensation of community, something she'd never understood before. The way everyone worked together to fix the details of the newly resurrected village and even the way they stared at her suspiciously as Hinata walked her across the village to the Hokage's building. They had to wait at the front of the building for a while in order to receive permission to head up to the Hokage's office, and once they got it, Maya felt a strange sensation in her stomach. Anxiety. She was nervous to meet the person who headed the village Sasuke hated so much until she was able to expel the dark hatred from his heart.

Well, as much as she could. By reasoning with him rather than trying to force it out, it was as if Sasuke had come to this conclusion on his own. Although she hadn't asked Hinata about Sasuke yet, the questions were burning a hole in her brain, begging to be asked. Where was he now? What had they decided? How was he being treated? Were the villagers accepting of his return?

Every coherent thought escaped her as the door to the Hokage's office opened and her heart just about stopped when a woman's voice said, "Enter," but then Maya realized she just had an abnormally slow heartbeat compared to regular humans, which made her laugh at herself on the inside.

Hinata didn't have to say anything; the Hokage smiled upon laying eyes on Maya's new form. "So you're Maya. You look different from the last time I saw you." From the bewildered look on Maya's face, Tsunade knew that she was completely thrown off by that statement, so she explained, "The body you originally came here with is currently in the morgue, and what you wish to do with it is something we'll discuss later. For now, I'm sure you want to know what's happened to Sasuke since you left."

Maya nodded furiously, unable to contain herself. "It feels like it's been a few days longer than I anticipated," she admitted, "so I was a little worried. Do they think I'm dead?"

"No, not exactly, but they still feel the loss," Tsunade answered solemnly. She examined the new Maya in front of her a little more closely, curious beyond belief. If possible, she would've dissected the demon girl right then and there, but it would probably be better to ask questions. That was when she remembered Hinata's presence and dismissed the Hyuga. The Hokage turned her full attention on Maya.

As if she already knew what Tsunade was going to ask, Maya said, "This body is permanent for as long as I choose, and I want to stay by Sasuke's side for as long as I can."

Tsunade nodded with newfound respect for the girl. "Then I suppose you'd like to hear how his case went?"

"Yes, please," Maya responded despite having the ability to simply turn on a switch and know everything. She didn't want to abuse that power.

"He was not deemed a threat to Konoha based on the premise that he had already achieved his goal of avenging the Uchiha clan and thus had nothing to accomplish by hurting Konoha. However, given his history of bad choices, we've decided that he must be with at least one trusted ninja at all times. Since it's usually the former Team 7, they give me verbal reports each day on his behavior and a written one at the end of each week. We're giving him a two months' trial period until he's free to do as he pleases. Does that sound fair?"

"It does, but what about the others?"

"Suigetsu has chosen to leave Konoha for the time being. It seems as if he, too, has a mission to complete." While Maya had kind of expected that, the news still saddened her. Suigetsu had become a sort of brotherly figure to her, but part of her knew that once he accomplished his goal, he would return. "Karin has already proved herself by saving me from a coma before Konoha fell into some very dangerous hands, and has come under my care as a med-nin, training alongside Sakura who I believe you've met. And Jugo refused to leave Sasuke for a couple days until he had one of his outbursts and was subdued by one of our own ANBU ninjas, so it looks like a deep friendship is starting to form there."

Satisfied with the report, Maya then asked, "And what about me?"

This was something that Tsunade had considered for the past five days and still hadn't come to a definite conclusion. "You _are_ a demon, under all that human," she acknowledged first. "If it were solely my decision, I would immediately put you in Sasuke's care and leave you two to be. I think you're the only one who can control the dark hatred he has. But the council would have a different, harsher opinion, so I'll come to a middle ground. You'll be restricted to certain areas, which I'll map out for you, and you must be with a trusted Konoha ninja at all times, as well."

"That's understandable," sniffed Maya, unhappy that she couldn't be trusted when she really, truly, honestly wanted to be accepted by the village she already loved without knowing it.

Seeing this, Tsunade smiled sympathetically. "I'll make it two months for you as well. Team 7 is getting crowded, so I'll need to arrange that later. Right now I'm thinking of replacing Sakura with Karin and adding Sakura to a team of you and Sasuke."

"I don't think Naruto and Karin would be a good match," she advised.

"…you're probably right," Tsunade conceded, thinking back to Karin's 'enthusiasm' when she woke up. "Well, anyway, that's something we can decide later. Just focus on staying within bounds of what I said. Here." She grabbed a map from a desk drawer, highlighting the training area, street vendor area, her own office, and a housing building, along with the paths she should travel in between. "You'll probably be sticking pretty close to the members of Team 7, or Hinata or whoever else you decide to charm—" Maya blushed at this comment. "—but make sure you and Sasuke each have your own person."

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Abruptly after saluting, Maya burst into embarrassed laughter. "That felt so weird to say!"

Even though she was supposed to be a serious, straight-faced leader, Tsunade didn't expect the laugh the bubble to the surface at seeing the demon girl's cheer. She felt as if she could understand why this was the person to take away Sasuke's dark hatred. "I'll have Shizune escort you wherever you'd like to go first."

"Could you tell me where Sasuke is now?"

"Probably the training area, with Naruto," she answered with a faint smile. "The two of them have been sparring since Sasuke was allowed to roam free to see which of them got stronger in the past few years, but I'm glad that they've respected my wishes and haven't gone all-out yet."

Maya laughed. "I'm sure that would be an interesting battle. Thank you, Tsunade," she said sincerely, exiting the room to the hallway where the woman named Shizune was already waiting. They walked to the training area together and once they spotted Kakashi sitting a couple hundred yards from the boys reading a book, Shizune left her to him after shortly explaining who she was.

Kakashi set his book aside to take in the demon girl. This definitely wasn't his expectation. He'd heard from Sakura and Naruto that the girl was the one they'd found on their tracking mission, so to see this girl who was almost a woman with dark eyes and different hair was a surprise to say the least. When Shizune had introduced the two, she stuck out a hand with a huge grin that made her face resemble the little child he'd met briefly, putting him at ease that this was the same person. Maya sat down next to him, legs crossed and leaning forward slightly as she watched the boys in awe.

"I almost can't tell who's got the upper hand," she whispered.

"Sasuke wins most of the time," said Kakashi, holding back a laugh when she jumped at the sound of his voice. She'd been so immersed in watching them that she'd forgotten he was even there. "That's because though Naruto has come a long way from how he used to be, a lot of his strength comes from emotion, while Sasuke can draw on his abilities without needing any extra push."

She silently watched them wear each other out, determining many things simply from the way they sparred. Sasuke's moves had an agitated edge to them, leading to more openings than he'd usually have, but still he was a step above Naruto. The blonde-haired ninja had more bounce to his moves as if he was too happy to really focus on the match. Maya had a feeling that if he was completely serious, Sasuke might actually have some trouble with the jinchuuriki.

"You're able to control your chakra extraordinarily well," Kakashi commented after a few minutes. "I can't feel any of your demonic energy at all."

She smiled self-consciously. "It's sort of like a switch in my mind. If I turn it on here, I'll be overwhelmed by the amount of people's thoughts, feelings, memories, chakras… With a village this big, I'd be walking around dazed all the time, so I turned everything off. I can still do simple things, like locate people and channel chakra," she tried to explain, but it was harder than she thought it would be.

"So if you turned the switch on right now, you'd know what I was thinking?"

"Not exactly. I'd feel it. Mostly, I get images of the thoughts in your mind."

"That's incredible."

Maya shrugged. "It's normal in the demon world. We're cautious of humans, so we've trained ourselves to look into them in order to find darkness that we could latch on to. Oh, but not me," she added hurriedly, realizing how that must sound. "I didn't try and use Sasuke's darkness. In fact, it's my mission to dispel it."

"Your mission?" Kakashi repeated with a chuckle.

"More or less." She rested an elbow on her knee, leaning her head on it. "I guess… I just felt Sasuke's pain more than anyone else's, but underneath was this warm scent that I just couldn't get enough of. So in reality, I'm really being selfish."

"It's a good thing, then. Without your selfishness, we wouldn't have Sasuke back," the copy ninja accredited. With the sun completely gone, Kakashi stood up and held a hand in the air. "Sasuke's win!" he shouted, walking towards them.

"What!" yelled Naruto, appalled by the ruling. "No way! I totally had him down on the ground for a full five seconds!"

"And _he_ had you on the ground more than once." Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Well done, you two. In three days, I can already see improvement."

Despite losing, Naruto still wore a grin when he was praised. Sasuke just nodded in acknowledgement. "Come on Sasuke, I'll treat you to some ramen at Ichiraku's!"

"Wait." He looked past Kakashi to the dark form still sitting cross-legged on the ground. "I noticed her earlier, but I couldn't tell who it was. Why is she here?"

"That's a good question."

Sasuke continued to stare at his former teacher. He was only his pseudo sensei for now, helping out only because he was Naruto's sparring partner. Or at least that was how he saw things—he didn't know that Kakashi truly enjoyed teaching the two boys. "Are you going to tell me who was watching us or not?" he asked when Kakashi didn't answer his question.

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" he responded with a wink.

Giving him a look, Sasuke sighed and walked over with his hands in his pockets. The outfit he donned now was different from the clothes he'd started wearing once he joined Orochimaru. He had a black v-neck t-shirt under which he had black mesh that the ninjas of Konoha seemed to favor and the back, of course, had the red and white Uchiha paper fan symbol, as well as his left shoulder. His forearms were tied up with white tape and black rope over it, the same as his shins to help him block. The right leg of his black shorts, ending above his knees, was tied with white and black tape, keeping a pouch of weapons in place. It suited him much better.

Maya got to her feet, seeing him approach, and wondered if he would recognize her, nervous about his reaction. In the dark, it was hard to see her from a distance, and even up close , he wouldn't have been able to point out her exact features. Sasuke stopped about a foot and a half from her, squinting in the night.

"Who are you and why were you watching us spar?" he demanded.

"I was kind of hoping you'd take one look at me and instantly know, but I guess I look kind of different now, huh?" Maya grinned sheepishly. "Come on, let's step into the light." She made sure to keep Kakashi and Naruto in sight, given their conditions of staying in Konoha, and stood underneath a street lamp, holding out her arms as if to say, "So, here I am."

She didn't _look_ familiar, but something about her reminded him of someone. Sasuke shook his head. "Stop playing games. I don't know you."

"Oh, sure you do! Does the name Maya ring a bell? Although I'm thinking about using my demon name, sort of as a tribute."

"Maya?" whispered Sasuke, stepping closer. He almost reached up a hand to touch her face, but then realized that this body wasn't the little girl he'd gotten to know. She had aged years and even looked a bit older than him, but she was two inches shorter and had to look up at him when she grinned, glad that she was finally able to see him again like this. "I thought it would be too much to hope for you to come back, so I… You're really here." The words came out in disbelief.

"You didn't think you'd get rid of me that easily, did you?" she winked. Unable to contain herself, Maya threw her arms around his neck in a childish outburst of glee. "I'm so happy to see you again!"

Laughing in bafflement, Sasuke lightly returned the hug. "Yeah," he said, hoping that she understood that he was returning the feeling.

"Things can go back to normal now," she said, letting go with a smile still lingering on her lips. "You can become a part of this wonderful village again, spar with your friends whenever you want, and everything will be good again! Just two months."

"I guess so." Sasuke's smile was a little more reserved, but he just wasn't sure how to express his thankfulness that she was back. The past five days had felt him feeling inexplicably empty, as if he was missing something, and he knew that is was Maya's support that he desperately needed back. Without her around, he'd felt his hatred growing and found himself thinking more and more about how he could slaughter the elders' family like they'd forced his brother to do, so that they could feel his pain. Now that she was by his side once more, those thoughts were instantly dismissed, because just her presence calmed the darkness within. He could let himself relax a little more.

"It'll take some time to get used to this body, but I'm sure we'll manage."

He nodded, agreeing that it was strange to see her like this. Sasuke had gotten so used to the innocence of a child that this Maya almost felt like a different person, yet when she smiled and her eyes lit up, he could still see a bit of that childishness. "How come you're older, anyway?"

"The old demons who created my body said they'd give it the most possible strength and experience in accordance with my own demon age and everything," she explained. "I'm actually a bit older, but they probably spent too much energy on giving my powers back at full capacity."

"How did you convince them to do that?" he inquired in surprise.

Maya looked down in embarrassment. "I said… I absolutely had to kill Madara Uchiha…"

Sasuke had a hard time letting this information sink in. What exactly was that supposed to mean? She was actually going to attempt that, or it was just a lie, and why would that sort of lie make them let her come back to the human world?

"Anyway," Maya suddenly said, cutting into his thoughts. He snapped out of them, looking back at her face. Only now did he notice the freckles that lightly sprinkled her face. Of course, her dark brown eyes were one of the first things he noticed, since they were so different from her old eyes. "Let's go back to Kakashi and Naruto. They have to take us back to our places, since we can't go alone." When she turned and jogged over to the two men, that was when he also noticed the black stripe among her russet-colored hair. It looked just like the stripe on the back of her squirrel form.

He followed a bit more slowly, feeling a little off balance somehow. It would be a while before he could think of this new body as the same Maya he'd known until now. At least they had the same smile. Sasuke went off in a different direction with Naruto, stopping to get a bowl of ramen before they headed back to his apartment. The ramen stand was actually not one of the areas he was allowed to be in, but Naruto insisted that there was no way they could get in trouble just for eating something delicious. The apartment, surprisingly, had no sort of guarding jutsu or anything. He was completely free to do whatever he wanted, but he didn't, knowing that it was a test to see if he could be trusted to obey instructions.

Sasuke felt a little worried leaving Maya with Kakashi, considering the way she looked now. A girl who was probably eighteen with a mature body and features that weren't half bad seemed like the perfect prey, but then again, Kakashi was tame with any other girl he came in contact with, like Sakura. It was just the books he read that were perverted, he supposed. Besides, Kakashi was a good choice to watch out for Maya. He remembered something she'd said a bit whimsically about using her demon name, which made him wonder what it was.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> The return of Maya! Even though she looks older now, her personality will still be sort of childish, because in demon years she's still a child. You'll find out just how old she is later, and I might tell you a secret if you review. ;D


	11. Team 7

**Chapter 11: Team 7**

Sleep came to Sasuke easier than it had the past few days, but he was awoken at an ungodly hour by Naruto knocking on his door and yelling for the Uchiha to open the fuck up. Groaning, Sasuke rolled out of bed and walked through the kitchen-living room and flung open the door unhappily. "What?" he grumbled.

"Danzou pulled Sai off our team!"

"So? Let me go back to sleep," Sasuke snapped, shutting the door, but Naruto stuck his foot in the way. He glared up at the blonde ninja. "The sun isn't even up yet, Naruto. Go back to bed and worry about this in the morning."

"You're not thinking," he hissed, pushing his way through the door into his friend's apartment. "Taking Sai back means Danzou could mean two things: either Sai isn't trusted anymore, or he's planning something."

"It's probably the first one," the Uchiha said dismissively. A small part of him wondered if Naruto's unrealistic worries might be true. After all, from the way Tsunade had acted, it was as if Danzou's loss of control following her awakening was a huge relief. Maybe Danzou really was the type to start something fishy. There was also the fact that he was one of the three elders… Sasuke's interest suddenly sparked, but he couldn't change his attitude now. "Anyway, this will probably mean I'll be back on your team, so think of that instead. Now leave me alone."

Naruto did seem a little more cheerful at that thought, but he still had his doubts. "Fine. Just don't say I didn't tell you so when Danzou starts acting up."

With those final words, Naruto exited, promising to return in a few hours to take him to the training area. The blonde ninja gave Sasuke a while to get ready and eat breakfast before heading back to his housing building and taking him to the area. This day was different from the others, not because Kakashi was late, but because he arrived with Maya. An unknown emotion surged in Sasuke for a brief second before he beat it down, strolling over to where Maya stood when Kakashi left her side.

"What are you doing here?"

She smiled. "I want to see your face when you find out," replied Maya cryptically.

"Find what out?" he frowned, quickly shooting a glance at Kakashi who he'd noticed waving for him to come over out of the corner of his eyes. Sasuke said, "I'll be right back," and went over to his sensei.

"Starting today, Team 7 is back in commission," Kakashi started, earning a cheer from Naruto and Sakura. "We were scheduled for a mission to deliver messages to the five Kages, since we recently had an outbreak of intercepted messenger birds, for a summit to discuss Akatsuki and especially Madara. This mission is to be executed within the next few days. Given the circumstances, with Sai being taken off our team and Sasuke added back to it, Tsunade saw an opportunity to shorten Sasuke's trial period and make him into a trusted Konoha shinobi."

"Seriously?" Sakura gasped in excitement.

"No way! How?" Naruto exclaimed.

"If he behaves and she sees that in our report, then he'll be free," the silver-haired ninja finished, smiling under his mask. "It'll be good to have everything back to normal, eh?"

Sasuke couldn't hold back the quirk of his lips, indicating a small smile. "When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, so today we're going to practice by each of you defending something."

"And Maya?" the Uchiha asked before they could start.

"She still has the same probationary period as the other two of your group that's staying. Sorry, Sasuke, but they're completely unknown ninjas, not like you," he responded, shrugging apologetically. "Alright! Sasuke, you get this bell. Sakura, a scroll. And Naruto, this metal block."

"What?" he shouted in disbelief. "Why do I get this heavy thing!"

"It's training. Didn't you say that you wanted to pass Sasuke by a mile?" Kakashi reminded him with a wink.

Naruto's resolve instantly hardened and he let out a battle cry before putting a huge gap between him and the others. "Just try and take it from me!" he challenged boldly.

Kakashi smirked. "Okay, you two, go at him. Make sure to keep your items protected as well."

Sasuke and Sakura nodded in unison, charging at their teammate. The copy ninja sat back and simply watched, just as he'd done for a while. He had originally planned this sort of training with him being the one to try and take the item, but he realized that it also worked in reverse if they ever needed to steal any intel from their enemies. Letting them battle it out on their own, Kakashi headed over to Maya, curious to see if she was just gifted or if she actually had a fighting spirit in her, but when he approached, Maya looked like she had something to say.

"Um, Kakashi, is there any way you could get in touch with Hinata?" she asked, blinking up at him hopefully.

Scratching the back of his neck, Kakashi tried to remember where he'd last heard of Hinata. "I think… they went off on a mission? Since Kurenai's been completely restricted from her team, they haven't been on any missions lately. They were probably waiting for the right time. Why do you ask?"

"She was the one to spot me outside the village walls," Maya detailed. "I really felt a lot of suppressed potential from her. I didn't mean to intrude on her thoughts, but I got a glimpse into her memories and found the source of her… disposition, I guess. I thought I might be able to loosen her up and work on my own skills a bit, since I'm not familiar with putting everything I learned in the demon world in use here." She thought back to the time when she nearly tripped outside the walls while walking with Hinata and the incredible speed she'd used to catch herself. Maya worried that it was a result of a gravity change or the pressure in the demon world that caused her to think she had to use more effort than she actually did on Earth.

"You could spar with me," offered Kakashi, sliding his Icha Icha Paradise book from his back pocket and thumbing through it. His eyes bore into Maya's, provoking her.

Maya didn't take the bait, shaking her head. "Focus on your team. They're having a bit of trouble synchronizing again after all this time apart."

Disappointed, Kakashi turned back to Team 7, only realizing the issue after a couple minutes of watching them. He was surprised that Maya had noticed it right off the bat, even noticing that they were still trying to use the same clumsy techniques they were familiar with years ago. "That's a great observation," he praised.

Red tinged Maya's cheeks as she curled her toes in the grass. "It's nothing," she insisted. "I can just feel their irritation and assumed it was because they're messing up. No one's getting anywhere like this. You should remind Sasuke and Naruto of what they found out about each other's strengths while sparring. Sometimes people can't see it in themselves. And tell Naruto not to cut Sai out of the picture completely, but instead remember what worked for them and see if they can modify it to Sasuke's abilities, or—" Maya cut herself off abruptly, thinking that Kakashi probably already knew all this and that she was just being intrusive. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Kakashi didn't bother hide his look of amazement. She was thinking on the level of a jounin who was trying to create the ultimate _team_, not someone who wanted to amplify one single person like he'd mistakenly done with Sasuke after seeing the possibilities in the Uchiha boy. The team had spoken their thoughts about that, berating him for not giving them enough attention. Even though they could be stupid sometimes, when they accomplished something together, Kakashi felt a glowing pride for every one of them. And Maya had caught on to that immediately. Perhaps she really wasn't a fighter type, but with her capability to empathize with any person and see the bigger picture, he felt that she would be an asset on the battlefield anyway.

He felt Maya's shame rolling off her in waves and placed a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "You did nothing wrong. I'm really quite impressed. Maybe you should take over Team 7," he said jokingly.

Relieved, Maya looked back up with a thankful grin. "I think you're the best person for the job, definitely! There would be no Team 7 without someone holding them together."

That caught him a little off guard. He hadn't been anticipating any compliments in return, but felt the sincerity in her words and felt a weight lift off his shoulders. There had always been some guilt remaining over Sasuke's leave, but now… He could finally accept that it wasn't his fault and that he could change that boy's future starting by helping Team 7 become stronger than ever.

"Sakura, don't let Sasuke set the rhythm," he yelled at the team, making everyone halt and look back at him. He sighed, motioning for them all to gather in front of him. All three of them were panting, but still alert and clutching their items tightly. Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Why are you holding them in plain sight?"

"Easier to keep an eye on them," said Naruto between gasps of air. He was breathing the hardest while Sasuke stayed cool and took in slow, quiet breaths. Sakura tried to imitate the Uchiha boy but failed, ending up more like Naruto who wiped sweat from his brow. The sun was slowly climbing the sky, making them more uncomfortable.

"You should hide them instead," he reprimanded, turning his attention to the only female of the group. "You kept getting sucked into Sasuke's way of doing things, which left you out of your element. Both of you should have tried to find a middle ground, something that combines your skills instead of using one and having everyone else act as the support. That's what Maya here pointed out, and she's right." Kakashi had slung an arm over the demon girl's shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She stumbled a little in surprise, blinking at Sasuke as he stared unflinchingly back at her.

"Any specific ideas?" asked Sakura, clearly interested in what Maya had to say.

She tried to avoid blushing due to the attention but felt her face heat up anyway. "W-well, I watched Naruto and Sasuke sparring a few days ago, so I know their skills better than yours…"

Sakura nodded, stepping back a few paces. "Tell them what to do, and then have them come at me. We'll see where that leaves us."

Turning to her expectantly, Maya found herself looking into Naruto's eager blue eyes. His enthusiasm made her smile and loosened her up a bit, allowing her to recall their fighting techniques the day before and piece them together in her mind. "I've got it," she said after a couple seconds, sliding away from Kakashi. Maya held up a hand to the boys, telling them not to move as she circled around them once and then ended up in front of them again with a grin.

"Sasuke, you're good with shuriken, right? The way you throw weapons and use them is much more fluid than Naruto's. And you're also good at hand seals. I've noticed you use substitution before. Naruto's kage bushin are really a huge asset, and I don't mean to give you a small role, but combining these three things can really confuse a ninja and allow you to go in for the kill—I mean, well, you know, take the information."

"But what if it's hidden? How do we find out where it is and take it?" Naruto interjected. Despite his questioning, he was still impressed with her logic, especially having only seen them fight once without any experience herself in the human world, as far as he knew.

"Uhm." She looked at Sasuke nervously. "Can I explain the whole thing first?"

The Uchiha wasn't sure why she'd asked him for permission, but he said, "Go on."

"Naruto makes about thirty kage bushin. From one direction, probably the left since that's Sakura's weak side, Sasuke will be hidden and throw a flurry of shuriken at her, which will make her dodge to the right where you'll use a substitution technique to make Sasuke appear there and get close to her. If you time it right, you'll be right in her face, and you can look into her eyes…" She trailed off, hoping he got the hint. Maya had little experience with sharingan, wondering if it was alright to use it even though they were just training. It seemed like a bit much, but Kakashi approved.

"That's a good idea," he praised. "Sasuke, how much control do you have over your sharingan?"

He smirked as if to say, "Who do you think I am?" and his teacher chuckled.

"Good. Put it into action."

Maya watched them with her finger crossed, hoping that it wasn't actually a really dumb idea that had no actual possibilities in reality. It sounded so nice in her head, but… She held her breath as the shuriken were thrown, and she noticed a slight change. A few kunai were among them that followed Sakura to the right, pushing her into Sasuke's substitution directly. She saw Sakura's surprise and then relaxation as she was caught in a genjutsu that immediately broke once Sasuke reached into her weapon pouch and pulled out the envelope. He held out an arm to stop Sakura from falling over once he released her from the sharingan.

"Well done!" Kakashi called to them.

Feeling Naruto's pride, Maya was glad that he hadn't thought that he was being left out in this move. Rather, it wouldn't have worked at all without his huge number of clones surrounding Sakura to provide a good enough distraction for when the weapons were thrown. She smiled up at Kakashi who returned it and ruffled her hair.

"You, too. Well done," he said.

"Thank you very much," she replied cheerfully, no longer as anxious as before. She really felt that she could help this team out—that is, if Kakashi let her.

"I have a question."

"Shoot."

"Can you fight?"

Maya considered this for a bit. "I'm not much of a _fighter_. I use my abilities to my advantage, predict moves before they happen, gain the emotional upper hand. Truthfully, I don't fight fair, and I try to avoid actual combat," she answered. "Why?"

"I want to get you tested," he revealed.

"For what?"

"Jounin."

Turning the switch on, Maya let herself see the details of a jounin. Once the pictures started becoming more personal, she pulled away and switch it off. She glanced a Sasuke who was talking with Sakura about how she could be added into that move and other situations they could use it in. "He's not even a jounin yet," she objected.

"Being a jounin isn't just about being incredible in battle. It's also about wits, leadership, the bigger picture." He was trying to convince her now. Passing the jounin test might also mean a shorter trial period for her, just like this mission would be for Sasuke. If she became a rightful member of Konoha society, there was a chance that she could gain trust from the higher ups and even go on a mission soon or be added to a team. "You definitely have these qualities. Whatever they taught you in the demon world works really well with you."

"I was born with these abilities," she continued to protest. "It's not like I'm anything special. I just know how to use them."

"So Hinata shouldn't be taken seriously just because she has a kekkei genkai that gives her an upper hand in some ways?"

Maya didn't know how to argue that. "No…"

"You still have weaknesses," Kakashi acknowledged, "but so do I. Jounin still work on their skills. It's just that at this level, I really think you deserve it. You'd be a great teacher. Look what you did just now." He motioned towards Team 7 who had already figured out a tweaked move with Sakura added and were trying it out on one of Naruto's kage bushin.

"A teacher? I'm not even from this world!"

"Maya." He stopped her with a hard stare. "Don't doubt yourself so much. And if you pass, Konoha might start to recognize you."

"Then… will you help me prepare?"

"Well," he sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "I'd really like to, but I'd only be able to once I got back from this mission and since I'm leaving tomorrow morning…"

The demon girl shook her head. "No, don't worry about it! I'd like to try some things out before you saw me fight, anyway. I'm probably really rusty," she admitted sheepishly. "When are you coming back?" The question was double-edged. She hadn't gotten much time with Sasuke yet and it was a little lonely, but he if came back a trusted ninja, then he could be the one to escort her everywhere and that would be perfect. There was also the issue of his plan regarding the elders, which she wasn't sure he'd let go of yet. Thankfully, the way he interacted with Naruto and Sakura were reassuring that he was doing well.

"It won't be long," he promised, noticing her sly glance at Sasuke. "A couple days at most."

"I'll be waiting, then," Maya said with a smile, and then she pointed to the team. "They seem to have that move down, so you can go ahead and teach what you were originally going to. Avoidance, right?"

"You've been really helpful. If you see anything we can improve on, don't be afraid to speak up." With that, Kakashi left her side to gather his team once more. The moves he was teaching them didn't settle well with Sasuke and Naruto who kept pushing back and blocking instead of dodged and avoiding. Sakura got it down fast, a natural difference in fight-or-flight reactions between her and boys. But before Maya could even say anything, Sakura caught her eye.

The pink-haired ninja rolled her eyes, jerking a thumb at the two of them clashing with Kakashi as he pretended to try and take their items. Naruto was getting his stolen, frequently falling for Kakashi's Earth element jutsu where he appeared from underground. Learning from the blonde boy's mistakes, Sasuke started pushing large amounts of chakra to his feet in order to feel when his sensei was underneath him. After a while, Sakura and Sasuke had perfected the avoidance techniques, realizing that they had to pay attention to every direction at once, while Naruto had a narrow view of his surroundings.

"Naruto," called Maya, running up to the blond ninja. She waved a hand at Kakashi to continue practicing with the other two. "Do you know why the other two got it already?"

"'Cause they're fucking smart, not like me," he retorted grumpily. Maya snickered at the pouty look on his face, making him snap, "What?"

"Sorry," she apologized, going serious immediately. This wasn't a joke to Naruto. She could feel his frustration even though she hadn't turned the switch on.

"It was always like this before," he complained, trying not to sound whiney. Naruto gazed down at Maya, his eyes asking for help, and she complied.

"It's because they learn from each other. See how Sakura just started moving to the side instead of jumping up when Kakashi's under her feet? That's because she watched Sasuke." Maya reached up a little and put a firm hand on his shoulder, releasing a surge of chakra into her hand. "Feel that pressure?"

"Yeah," he grunted, holding himself up well despite the weight on his shoulder.

Maya flicked the switch on, allowing herself to control her chakra better, and released a quick, large burst that pushed him back, switching it off again. He skidded back with wide eyes, surprised, not expecting the quickness that followed. Maya left her spot in a blur, sending a large amount of chakra to her feet, resulting in speed that made it seem like she'd teleported behind Naruto. Her hand snuck into his front pocket, grabbing the metal bar and flicking her hand back out, jumping back as he turned around with her tongue stuck out.

"What the hell!" Naruto shouted, holding his arms up in disbelief. "You never said you were gonna do that!"

"Neither will the enemy," replied Maya with a wink. She tossed it back to him and he caught it easily, stuffing it into the inside of his jacket this time, a determined look now crossing his face. "Don't just think of yourself, Naruto! Think of everything and everyone around you."

"How am I supposed to do that when I'm only one person?" he said in irritation, and then he figured it out. He quickly made two more clones of himself and bent his knees, ready for her next attack. His two clones watched her while he anticipated where she'd appear next.

"To your left!" a clone shout, and he swiftly pulled himself to the right, sending a clone in his stead.

Maya tore through it, charging straight at him, when Naruto flipped over her head. She spun around, hair whipping through the air, and was unexpectedly caught in the face with the second clone's foot. Naruto had not only gone over her, but the clone as well—that explained the distant sound of his shoes when he landed. Maya recoiled, pulling a kunai from her belt and following the clone as it swerved. She timed his paces, counting the seconds until he was the right distance away, and then she ducked under a punch and drove the knife into the clone's side, making it disappear in smoke.

Through the smoke came the real Naruto, out of nowhere, and knocked her to the ground, pinning her there with a kunai to her neck. He grinned ecstatically. "I did it!" he shouted, jumping off her with a cheer.

"Great, Naruto!" Sakura laughed.

"Hn." Sasuke nodded in approval.

Kakashi gave him a thumbs up.

Naruto held out a hand to the demon girl on the ground, helping her up. The force of his pull was unexpected, causing her to fall forward into him, but she used it as an opportunity to hug him. "Nice!" she praised happily. It had also been her own success. Maya pulled away with a grin almost as wide as his. "You were watching Sasuke, weren't you, when he jumped behind Sakura when Kakashi didn't know she was there?"

"You were watching, too?" he blinked in shock. "That's impossible. You were speeding around and I let my clones take care of that issue, so I had a moment to look over."

She shrugged. "It doesn't feel as fast to me as it looks. Anyway, go ahead and take turns trying new things out with your teammates. I'll be watching," Maya told him, pointing two fingers at her eyes and then at him.

He laughed, "Okay sensei."

Maya faltered at the nickname, glad that he didn't notice her bright blush as he ran off to join Sasuke and Sakura. She looked up to see Kakashi's returning form, her eyes big and innocent and uncertain. He was confused about what caused her to look like that, so he asked.

"I don't think I belong here," she admitted, tears making her eyes shiny. "I'm not a true ninja, but here I am acting like I have a right to tell them what to do!"

Kakashi sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wasn't good at banishing self-doubt, but those eyes made him feel guilty for not doing anything. "If Konoha worked in four-man groups, there's no doubt you'd be a part of Team 7," he said. "Your insight is something any team would be lucky to have. So once you pass the jounin exam—"

"If," she interrupted.

He gave her a hard look, shutting her up. "Once you do, there will be a team just for you. And then you don't have to worry. For now, just relax. Don't even pay attention to them if it worries you."

She nodded. "Thanks, Kakashi."

"No problem."

They sat together in the grass silently, listening to the constant hum of cicadas and the grunts of effort from Team 7. A little past noon, Kakashi told them to stop. "If you're all exhausted tomorrow, you'll be no use on a mission, so get some food and rest up," he ordered, and then turned to Maya. "You need someone with you at all times, so if you want me to take you back to your apartment for now, I could…"

Maya hesitantly opened her mouth, looking shyly at the others, giving a squeak of surprise when Naruto threw his arm around her. "Come on, let's eat at Ichiraku's!" he grinned.

Sakura smiled reassuringly. "Each of you need a separate person, so I'll come with, if that's okay," she offered.

"You're coming with us, Sakura?" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "All right!"

"On one condition," she added, giving him a look. "We eat somewhere else."

"No way," he said instantly. "Ichiraku's ramen is the best."

"They're not even allowed there!" the kunoichi shot back in annoyance. "Seriously, let's show Maya that Konoha isn't all about food for bums like you."

"I take offense to that," Kakashi sniffed. "Ichiraku's is delicious."

"Right?" Naruto grinned triumphantly.

"Point proven," Sakura said flatly, turning her attention on Sasuke. "What do you say? You're the only one who hasn't given an opinion."

"Anywhere is fine," the Uchiha answered easily. He just exuded _cool_. Maya couldn't help but realize why he used to have all those fangirls. They'd settled down now that everyone had matured, and since he was still mostly known as the one who betrayed Konoha, but he got lustful stares as they walked down the streets after deciding on Sakura's new favorite place instead of Ichiraku's. Maya had been impressed by the pink-haired girl's ability to convince everyone, excluding Kakashi who said that he'd feel weird with a bunch of teenagers and simply left.

"Check it out, it's Kiba and his team," Naruto commented upon entering, waving enthusiastically at the group.

"Hey, Naruto! Who's the new chick?" Kiba said, walking over from their table to greet his friend. He looked Maya from head to toe, taking her in, while Naruto explained.

"She came back with Sasuke," the blonde ninja said. "Her name's Maya and she's really smart, and fast."

"Stop it, Naruto," Maya interjected weakly, feeling awkward being complimented like that. She bowed quickly, smiling at Kiba. "Nice to meet you. I heard you were on a mission, so I'm glad you came back safely. Please tell Hinata that I'd like to see her again soon."

"Y-yeah, thanks…" Kiba stared at her for a moment longer before snapping out of it. "I mean, I will. I didn't know you two met."

"It's a long story."

He nodded, feeling unwanted with the others staring at him strangely. "Well, I'll see you then," he said, heading back to his table.

"What was that about?" Sakura whispered once they sat down, eyes alight. "He totally checked you out, Maya! And did you see the blush when she said 'I'm glad you came back safely'?" Sakura and Naruto laughed while Sasuke remained emotionless. "I'm not making fun of you, I promise. It was cute."

Maya couldn't help laughing as well. "That's ridiculous. There's no way. He was probably just embarrassed to be put on the spot like that. Maybe I shouldn't have said so much?" she fretted.

"You're fine the way you are," the other girl in the group assured. "But you're so polite to strangers. How come?"

She shrugged. "Habit, I suppose. What sort of things can we eat here?"

Sakura went off to list her favorite things as well as the restaurant's specialties, talking over Naruto's interruptions of, "But Ichiraku's ramen is still better." She found herself giggling a lot at their bickering and smiling when Sasuke joined in the conversation, just like normal. It was as if she was becoming part of the team even though there was no place for her. She didn't want to leave, especially after eating the most delicious miso soup. It was so good, she hadn't eaten anything else, instead ordering seven bowls and earning gasps of amazement from Naruto who couldn't believe that she was able to eat so much.

Maya had always been a big eater, but burned it off quickly because even in the demon world, she was quick. Her fast movement seemed to speed up her metabolism so she never had to worry about how much she was eating, as proven by the way she didn't count until they were getting ready to go. "Wow, I'm so sorry! I didn't think I ate so much, and I don't have any money…"

"It's fine," Sasuke said, taking on her part of the bill. It had turned out that the entire Uchiha fortune was still untouched and a small portion of it had been given to him over the last few days. The rest would be completely transferred to him after the mission.

"Thank you so much," she told him sincerely, making sure to meet his eyes.

They held that stare for a couple seconds longer, jumping when Naruto scraped his chair across the ground. He patted his stomach in satisfaction. "Not better than Ichiraku's, but still pretty good," he admitted, yawning as he finished, causing Sakura to yawn as well. The two of them had gotten so tired from the food that they risked letting Sasuke and Maya head back on their own part of the way.

It had come to their attention that they lived in the same building, just one floor apart. Sasuke's was up a flight of stairs, but Maya's was in a dark corner, shaded from the street lights by the walkway overhead. Sasuke took one look at this and said, "I'll walk you to the door."

"You don't have to," she started to say, stopping when she saw the serious look in his eyes. Complying, Maya walked on, Sasuke less than a step behind her. She felt his sleeve brush her shoulder, but he moved away to let her open the door. It had no lock, like his, which was a way to let them both know that they were always under suspicion until they'd proven themselves.

"I can go in from here, Sasuke," Maya said with a thankful smile.

But he didn't listen. Sasuke didn't physically push her into the apartment. His overbearing presence, moving closer to her made Maya back up, directly into the makeshift living room. The door was only open a crack, letting in a sliver of light that shone on Maya's face, leaving Sasuke's completely dark.

"Sa—"

Suddenly, he was too close and she stumbled, falling on her back and hitting her head on the floor. She gasped at the pain, but it was gone in a moment. Feeling stupid, Maya tried to get up—and couldn't. Sasuke had gotten to her level, crouched over her with his forearm pushing down on her throat. Emotions ran high and the switch turned on without her control.

A rush of images bombarded her mind—fragmented moments of the night his family was killed, Itachi's tears as he left the scene, the elder's faces, Itachi's dying moments, the things he'd learned from Maya and Madara, everything mixing together and making his pain burn stronger than before. Being back in Konoha had calmed him until the moment he recognized something from the Uchiha era of things. The dark space that her apartment was located in sparked a memory that she was suddenly sucked in to.

"Nii-chan? Where did you go?" A sleepy-eyed Sasuke had followed his brother one night. He had been unable to sleep due to nightmares and heard Itachi leaving. Assuming it was one of his parents, Sasuke only meant to go tell them that he couldn't sleep, but ended up going after Itachi. But his brother was quicker than him and he got lost. Now he was speaking to the air, trapped in front of a dark apartment complex.

"Sasuke!"

The young Sasuke whipped around, startled by his brother's voice suddenly coming from behind him. "Nii-chan! What are you doing, dressed like that?"

It was the first time the little boy had seen his brother in his ANBU uniform. Itachi shook his head. "Never mind that. Let's get you home. Why were you awake?"

Sasuke mumbled tiredly, "I had nightmares," as he climbed on his brother's back. They took off.

"You know how to get rid of nightmares?"

"How?"

"You look the monster in the eye and scream, I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!" Itachi actually shouted the words. They echoed back to the brothers, making them laugh.

"That's it?"

"That's it."

And from that night on, there were no more nightmares.

"But they're back," Sasuke whispered, slowly removing his arm and punching the hard ground next to Maya's head. She flinched. "Last night, I slept fine, knowing that you were back to keep the darkness from overtaking me. I'm not strong enough on my own. How can I keep the darkness away if you're so far?"

"I'm right below you," Maya said softly, touching his cheek lightly to make him look at her instead of at the carpet. "I don't mean literally, as in right now. I mean, in the building."

He involuntarily laughed, shaking his head like he'd said something stupid. Then he stopped, realizing something, and his eyes were glowing with sharingan. With the switch still on, Maya was able to force him out of her mind before his genjutsu started working and she crawled out from under him, leaning back on her arms.

"Even if you bring me into your mangekyou sharingan, it won't bring Itachi back. It'll all be an illusion, and that'll make it harder for you to let go." Maya felt sadness stab her heart, unsure if it was her own or his, but it felt like something only she could feel.

Hating the look on her face, Sasuke turned his head away as he stood. He still couldn't face her when he went to the door, opening it all the way. Sasuke turned towards her a little without eye contact and muttered, "If I have nightmares, how do I make them go away now if it's not monsters?"

"The same way, Sasuke."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I hope that the Sasuke/Maya moment was enjoyable. (: I really want them to have more time together, but with Sasuke, I can't really make things too romantically obvious. And then there are other issues, like Maya becoming a jounin… o.o I promise it won't be something to make her seem 'all-powerful', but rather, more like a teacher. I seriously love you reviewers, you're all my angels. :'D


	12. In the Meantime

**Chapter 12: In the Meantime**

The next morning, someone unexpected came to Maya's door. She had been awake for a while, surprised to find her fridge restocked with ingredients, so she made herself cabbage and onigiri with seaweed, eating it slowly. This was Itachi's favorite meal. Sadness came over her thinking that she couldn't make him happy one last time before he died. Maya tilted back in her chair, looking at the ceiling and wondering what Sasuke's favorite food was when a knock made her jolt upright, the legs of the chair back on the ground.

"Coming!" she shouted, wiping her mouth before heading for the door. Team 7 was out on a mission and it was Kakashi who had become the one to get her in the morning, by accident really, but it stuck. With him gone, the white eyes that flashed to her face when the door opened were a pleasant change. "Hinata?"

"H-hello, Maya-san," Hinata greeted with a bow. "Kiba said you wanted to see me soon and since your team is gone, I thought you might be stuck here…"

"You're so thoughtful! But don't call me so formally," she scolded, switching tones. Then she grinned happily, glad the Hyuga girl had stopped by. "Even though they're not my team, I really wish they were. They're great people… Especially Naruto, huh?"

Red tinged Hinata's cheeks. "Th-that's not…"

"Don't worry, I won't tell," Maya promised, about to wink when she caught herself. This scene strangely reminded her of something… What was it? Oh, that day in camp when Suigetsu said the same thing to her about Sasuke. It wasn't true that she was looking at Sasuke romantically, but his implication had been enough to make her blush, just as Hinata was now. She waved a hand, saying, "Anyway, did you have anything in mind?"

"No," she admitted shyly. "I'm sorry, I just sort of wanted to see you."

Maya blinked, stunned. Really? Her switch was off so she couldn't tell exactly what the dark-haired girl meant, but it made her happy. "That's perfect. I'm really glad you came by," she smiled. "Do you have anything you have to do today? If it's alright for me to tag along, I would."

She shook her head. "Just training with my team in an hour. Normally we train separately, but our styles are so different that without Kurenai, our mission was almost a flop." Hinata let out a sigh, looking dejected. "I'm sure I was the weakest link, and I was in the office this morning handing in our report when I heard Kakashi talking about you and nominating you for the next jounin exam. That's amazing, Maya-s… I mean, Maya! He must've seen something incredible in you."

"He thinks too highly of me," Maya laughed. Compliments usually left her feeling awkward but the look of admiration in Hinata's eyes made her feel a bit better about hearing those words coming from her. "You probably thought that I could help you somehow, huh?"

"That's not why I came here, though," she objected quickly and earnestly, leaving Maya no choice but to believe the girl. "That day we met outside Konoha, you were so cheerful even though you were probably really nervous at the time and… and…"

Tilting her head, Maya started to realize something. Hinata was attracted to the sort of person who was the exact opposite of herself. If she was more outspoken, she might not need other people to speak out for her. Maya smiled reassuringly, pushing Hinata out of the doorway so that she could shut the door behind her. "I _was_ really nervous, but I was also excited about all the new things I'd see. Instead of worrying so much about your current state, focus on how it'll feel once you start doing really well," she advised, walking out from the shade of the walkway above. Her long russet colored hair swished in the light breeze, making the sun's heat more bearable.

"Show me the way!"

"To where?" the Hyuga asked in confusion, following the older girl out.

"The place where you three train, of course."

"It's not for another hour."

Maya shrugged. "Maybe I want to check it out first, see what we can do," she said, but really she wanted to watch Hinata without anyone else interfering. Hinata nodding, starting in one direction and making a few turns through buildings before leading them towards a straight path into the woods. As they walked, Maya asked questions about Konoha, stopping in awe when she noticed the face of the mountain with the faces carved into it.

"Whoa, what's that?"

"You didn't see it when you went to see the Hokage-sama?"

"I was looking at my feet," Maya confessed with a laugh, still staring in amazement. "Who are they?"

"The past Hokages." She went on to list them all, explaining each of their stories when Maya eagerly demanded them. By the time she was done, the two of them were sitting on the ground facing each other while Hinata talked. Maya was enchanted by the history behind Konoha, falling back on the ground when it was over, astounded.

"This place is even greater than I thought… My parents became king and queen through pure carnage and fear. But these people truly deserved it… Wow."

"The demon world has a king and queen?" Hinata asked. "And your parents, no less."

"Yeah," she grunted, turning on her side to look at the younger girl. "My mom is still there, wreaking havoc probably. She wouldn't dare come back to the human world because she's ashamed that seven of her tails were sealed by one."

"And your father?"

Maya shut up immediately, standing up abruptly. "We're late."

Trailing behind the girl, Hinata was burning with curiosity. What was wrong with Maya's father that she didn't want to talk about him? But she knew not to press about these sorts of things. After all, thinking of the reason she didn't want to talk about her father, it could be something similar and just as painful, so she let it go until Maya would be ready to talk. Maya paused after a while, remembering that she didn't know the way, and let Hinata take the lead again. When they arrived, Kiba and Shino were both already there.

"Sorry I took so long," apologized Hinata once they were in earshot. Kiba froze and Maya swore that she heard a muffled sound from Shino, but it was hard to tell.

"Is she going to train with us?" Shino was probably looking at Maya when he said that.

"I don't know…" Hinata glanced at the older girl. "Will you?"

Maya shook her head. "I prefer to observe. What do you normally do?"

"Warm up, first," the only girl of the group answered, turning towards the trees. Shino had already moved to his own area and Kiba remained the only one standing still. The large dog next to him whined and nudged his hand, pulling him out of his day dreaming. That was when Maya realized that Kiba was another one of the people she'd met of the Leaf ninjas that day so long ago. She smiled encouragingly at him, but he turned away.

The duo was amazing to watch. Akamaru was truly an incredible animal and his obedience was hard to comprehend. Interested, Maya flicked her switch on, concentrating on Akamaru. There was an intensity burning from him like she'd only ever felt from humans as well as deep intelligence and affection for his owner. The bond the two of them had formed was unbreakable. Her lips curled into a smile at the thought of something that could last forever like that.

"Maya, you look a bit dazed," said a male voice from her side. She jerked her head up, having been focused on Akamaru so much that she didn't notice Kiba approaching her with a water bottle.

"Thanks," she said, taking a long drink. The sun had been beating down on her back, causing sweat to form on her forehead. May wiped it away with a gloved hand, suddenly realizing that she'd been wearing the same clothes for a while now with a frown. Though the village had provided her other essentials so that she didn't need to pay, since she had no money, she wondered who had forgotten about clothing.

"You sure about just watching?" he asked, plopping down next to her, his breathing still labored.

"It's not like I need to keep up on my skills for anything," she sighed.

Kiba snuck a glance at her from the corner of his eye. "I thought you were going to try for jounin," he pointed out.

"Kakashi wants me to," Maya acknowledged, cringing when Hinata fell hard on her back. "Does she always get like that?"

"Like what?"

"Messes up once and then it ruins her morale, so she stops trying hard enough."

Startled, Kiba openly looked at the demon girl. "You already picked up on that?"

She rested her head on her knees which she'd pulled up to her chest. "Why does everyone think it's so strange when I say things like that? Don't you guys have perceptive people here in Konoha?"

"Sure, people like Shikamaru who are geniuses with IQs in the four-digits, but it's amazing when regular people like us are at their level… Or, well, I guess you're not regular," he corrected himself, scratching his head.

Maya lifted her head and glared hard at him. "Stop treating me like I'm so different," she snapped. "I came with these abilities because I'm a demon, but don't I look and act like a human?" Biting her lip, she felt bad seeing the regretful look he had on. She sighed, shaking her head. "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean that. You're right to treat me like that. I bet that's what everyone else is thinking, too."

"You're probably more human than some of us," he said quietly, turning away from her. With a groan, he got on his feet, knees popping. "Ahh, that felt good."

"Kiba, keep working hard!" she shouted after him.

He stopped, then turned back with a toothy grin and a thumbs up. "Yep! Hey, you two, let's start with…"

Kiba took the lead of the group, instructing them what to start with and she watched as they executed it perfectly. She narrowed her eyes, paying close attention to the way they seemed to leave Akamaru to Kiba and mostly avoid him. It was a weakness in every combination of moves they came up with. All an enemy would have to do is place the dog in a situation that the others wouldn't be able to deal with and bam, they were cut apart. She chewed on her lip, the thought burning a hole in her head until she had to say something. Maya stood up, waving her arms to get their attention.

It was Kiba who rode over on Akamaru's back, since he was the fastest of the group. Panting, he asked, "What's up?"

"The others don't work well with Akamaru, do they? Try and get them used to him instead of jumping around to get out of his way. It makes you guys look clumsy."

He opened his mouth to protest, but a thoughtful look crossed his expression. "You're right, they don't really have their own bond with him… That's great! Thanks a bunch, Maya," he grinned, galloping back to his teammates. Hinata sent her a look of gratitude once Kiba finished explaining which Maya returned by smiling.

They had improved significantly by the end of the day and even Shino pet Akamaru in congratulations for being such a good teammate. Hinata was glowing with pride—she hadn't fallen back, not once, because she had remembered Maya's words and pushed herself to reach the end line. The sun had crept across the sky while they trained, close to sunset. Shino said he had some business to attend to with his clan and so did Kiba, but he offered for them to tag along since it wasn't anything too important, just the birth of some new pups.

Maya instantly lit up. She'd loved looking into Akamaru's mind and finding out how human he was. The idea of more dogs like him was fascinating. "Hinata, let's go, definitely!"

She hesitated. "My father…"

"Screw your father! Puppies!" she exclaimed excitedly, grabbing the younger girl's hands in earnest. Maya was only an inch taller but her lack of shoes compared to Hinata's low-heeled sandals made up for it, resulting in her dark brown eyes looking directly into Hinata's white ones, begging. "Come on, please? I really want to see them. You'll love them, too. They'll be so cute! We had pups born in the demon world, but they were so ugly, I didn't even want to touch them. I saw pictures of these puppies in books and I just wanna hold them and love them and ahh! Please!"

Hinata couldn't help the laugh the escaped her. The animated demon girl was happy, she couldn't refuse. "Okay, okay, let's go," she agreed, "but I have to go within the next hour."

It looked like Maya was about to object, but she grinned wide and nodded. "Yes!" she cried triumphantly.

Kiba smirked. "Want to ride Akamaru with me?"

"Could I?" she gasped, whipping around to Hinata. "Ride behind me, too!"

"I don't think I'll fit. Anyway," she added before Maya could stop her, "I'm sort of afraid of heights."

"Pfft, that's hardly high at all," Maya stated, raising an eyebrow at the Hyuga. She didn't budge. "You're serious?" The dark-haired girl nodded. "Okay, but we'll work on that some other time." Maya walked over to the front of Akamaru and flipped her switch on, petting him affectionately. It was nice to feel his bliss at the feeling of being pet. With a lazy smile on her face, Maya went over to his side and let Kiba pull her up, arms wrapped around the shinobi's waist so that she wouldn't fall off. Hinata was a few paces behind them but she kept up well enough.

They arrived at the Inuzuka veterinary office and Kiba led them in, leaving Akamaru outside for one of his family members to take away.

"Why are you letting him go with that person?" Maya asked, watching Akamaru trotting somewhere with another Inuzuka.

"It's his feeding time," he explained, going up to the receptionist and asking if the puppies had been born yet. They had, so the three of them were allowed in the far back where the mother was finishing cleaning them up. Four little dogs were squealing, toppling over each other to get to their mother's milk. Maya's initial reaction was pure happiness and she stared stupidly at them for a while, just grinning. "You can pick them up, you know…"

Maya shook her head hard. "They're having such a good time! I can't take them away," she said, crouching down to watch them more closely.

"Who's this?" a woman's voice suddenly asked. Maya turned her head to look at a pretty, older woman with her brown hair in a ponytail and the familiar red triangles that were the sign of the Inuzuka clan.

"Nee-chan, this is Maya," he introduced. "And this is my sister, Hana."

She smiled at his sister. "Nice to meet you."

"Did she replace Shino?" she asked in confusion.

"No, she's sort of with Team 7, but they're off on a mission so she tagged along today," Kiba explained. "I told her about the pups and she _really_ wanted to see them."

Maya grinned sheepishly.

Hana returned her smile. "They won't be up and running for another few weeks, so you can come back when they're ready to start playing. At this age they're pretty cute but boring."

"They can hear you!" her brother snapped teasingly.

She laughed. "I'll see you later. The triplets and I are going out for a bit."

"Sure." He turned to Hinata when his sister had left. "It's a long way back to the Hyuga household and the sun's about to disappear. Should I take you home?"

"But Maya needs someone to…"

"I'll take her back, but I can't let a girl go home on her own," he said. "You don't mind leaving the pups, right?" The question was directed at Maya who shook her head.

"Nah, I'll come see them again when they can walk."

"Then it's settled. Come on, Hinata." Kiba found Akamaru and Maya rode on his back again, enjoying the feeling of wind through her hair. She closed her eyes, leaning her head on Kiba's back comfortably. Maya flipped the switch on to check that they weren't too heavy for Akamaru and they were, but he seemed to take it as a challenge so she turned the switch back off. When they arrived in front of the Hyuga's home, Hinata's father was waiting on the steps. He stood up intimidatingly, grabbing his daughter by the arm when she walked up to him, ready to apologize.

"Where have you been?" he accused. "It's already dark!"

"Tr-training," she stuttered, looking away.

Unhappy with Hiashi's behavior, Maya slid off Akamaru's back, ignoring Kiba's warning to stay out of it. She walked right up to Hiashi and bowed deeply, rising back up with a soft smile on her face. "Please forgive Hinata, it was I who held her back. She was so helpful in training me that I didn't want her to come home yet, but she insisted."

"You were training a demon? What about working on yourself?" he snapped, letting go of his daughter roughly.

"Sir, I believe you're thinking of the wrong person," she said politely. "I'm clearly human. And the reason I came to Hinata was because of the way she flawlessly beat that guy, over there." Maya jerked a thumb over her shoulder in Kiba's direction. A spark of pride appeared in Hiashi's eyes.

"Is that so?" he mused. "Well, nevertheless, you missed dinner. Get inside, Hinata. Thank you for bringing her home."

Hinata looked back at the demon girl, mouthing the words, "Thank you," before the door shut and cut them off from each other. Maya blew a raspberry angrily at the closed door, storming back to Akamaru and kissing him on the nose. He licked her face reassuring, allowing her to smile again, but she was still annoyed when she let Kiba pull her up on the dog's back.

"That was a bold move," he allowed, "but did you have to say that she beat _me_?"

"Is he always like that?" Maya snapped, ignoring his hurt ego.

"I guess so," Kiba shrugged. "She was the heiress but he felt that she was a failure so he passed that duty on to her younger sister, Hanabi."

"I know that! But to be so blatantly _rude_ like that for no reason… Hinata doesn't deserve someone like that," she determined resolutely.

"You're right, but there's nothing we can do."

"We can train her." Maya's eyes sparkled. "Make her so strong that her father will feel like he made a huge mistake, and then she won't take his offer to be the heiress again and he'll drown in his misery night after night, reliving the day he denied his own daughter!"

"…that sounds sinister," laughed Kiba.

"I'm serious," she pouted, removing her arms from around him.

"Hey, hold on, or you'll—"

Feeling herself tilt, Maya grabbed onto his shirt in a panic, but it ended up making them both fall to the ground. Maya skinned her knee hard, cursing her pants that ended right above them. Kiba only grazed his palms a little, swearing when he noticed the gash on Maya's knee.

"Jeez, Maya, you're bleeding a lot!" he exclaimed in surprise. He didn't think they'd fallen that hard. Akamaru nudged him to the side, licking Maya's wound a few times. When he sat back, it was already closing, leaving Kiba speechless. "I heard what they said about dog saliva, but man…"

"It's my demon powers," Maya said, stifling a laugh. "You're so gullible."

Kiba quickly stood up, brushing himself off. "Shut up," he grumbled, hopping back onto Akamaru. "Will you hold on this time?"

"Yeah," she laughed, amused by his embarrassment.

"Actually, the two of them are getting along better lately. I wonder what made him so agitated," Kiba said, thinking aloud. Maya hoped that he was right and that it wasn't such a constant burden on her like she'd briefly seen in Hinata's mind. "Maybe something's stirring in Konoha? I heard that there was some sort of disagreement between the elders and Tsunade."

"A disagreement?" That caught her interest.

"You heard about Danzou's short time as Hokage, right? Well, it looks like he was furious about being kicked out of the position so quickly. I overheard on the streets about people getting pulled from odd jobs on his special team back to their headquarters," Kiba went on. His hands gripped Akamaru's fur tighter. "I hope it's nothing. Konoha doesn't need any more trouble."

"Who is Tsunade going to leave in charge when she goes to the Summit of the Five Kages?" she asked quietly, worrying building up in her.

"I don't know, but I sure hope it's not him."

"Me too," Maya agreed. Hearing the stories of the four Hokage's faces etched into the mountain, despite the fact that she didn't know Danzou, everyone's weariness of him told her that he didn't deserve his face to be carved next to the others'. A Hokage was someone strong, reliable, and someone people looked up to. She'd met Tsunade once, but every one of those qualities fit her. She had risked her life to save Konoha from Pain's destruction.

"I'm still sorry for earlier," he said after a while. The Hyuga household had taken them all the way across the village, completely opposite from where Maya was allowed. She and Sasuke broke their boundaries left and right but hopefully, the Hokage and council members could overlook that because she wasn't doing anyone harm. Or they could just not know… The road was long, so Kiba tried to fill it with conversation.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just a little more anxious than the average person about fitting in."

"More anxious than Sasuke?"

"Probably," she remarked, thinking. "I mean, he's familiar with this place and everyone. He just needs to work on trust. I need to work on proving myself, which is another matter entirely."

"You're fine," he assured. "Everyone likes you already."

Maya snorted.

"It's true!" Kiba countered seriously. "The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were something special."

"Different," she corrected sharply.

"Special," he shot back, his tone firm and leaving no room for argument. "Different, maybe, but definitely special. Understand? You're just like Hinata. Maybe you should both train and become strong enough to make her father regret treating her that way."

"How would my training help that?" she asked with a laugh.

Kiba shrugged, glad that he'd gotten her a little more cheerful. "Anyway, we're almost there. Sure you'll be alright by yourself?"

The demon girl didn't answer until they were in front of the housing building. Under the walkway, it was just as dark as the night before, no light shining until you were at a certain angle to catch a glimpse of the street light. She held her breath, remembering Sasuke's strange actions last night. She wondered if he was okay, a little dazed just from recalling the events.

"Maya?"

She snapped out of it, sliding off the side of Akamaru and petting him one final time before smiling up at Kiba. It felt fake. "I've slept by myself for many years now, Kiba," she said smartly.

He didn't buy her act. "You look pale."

"How can you tell when I'm lit up by moonlight?" Maya inquired, referring to the fact that only the moon gave any source of light at all.

"Because I've trained my eyes to see in the dark. If something's off, Maya, you can tell me."

"Just a bunch of petty worries," she said, running a hand through her russet hair. Maya pushed her bangs back, looking up at Kiba. She could see better without the messy bangs in her face. Hinata's straight-cut ones had seemed much more manageable. "Good night."

"Good night."

She watched Akamaru's tail until it disappeared around a corner. A cold, lonely feeling overcame her. In Konoha, she was basically a prisoner, unwanted. She felt safer with Sasuke around, but he was miles away on an important mission to deliver messages to the five Kages. The summit, she assumed, was about the issue of Akatsuki and the threat they pose to every hidden village. He was with his friends and old teacher while Maya was making new, strained connections with people she might not even see very often. It was tiring. She wanted her team back.

_They're not your team,_ she reminded herself, resulting in an even lonelier feeling. Maya turned towards the cliff face where the past Hokage's faces were even though it was blocked by her building and closed her eyes. _Please give us the strength to get through this._

Opening her eyes, Maya walked into her apartment and undressed, going to sleep without any clothes for two reasons. One, she didn't have any pajamas, and two, even at night her apartment was hot. That night, her dreams were filled with images of the four Team 7 members wandering around in snow wearing brown cloaks. It felt so real that when Maya woke up in the middle of the night, she was shivering. She'd kicked her blanket off in her sleep, so she rolled to the side of the bed to pick it off the ground. She wrapped herself up in it once more, curling into a ball. Why was it so cold now?

When she started dreaming again, it was Itachi that she dreamed of. Sasuke's memories had flowed into her as well at the time when he used to mangekyou sharingan. She relived the moments Sasuke had with his older brother so many times that it was almost torture. To see those sweet, unsuspecting faces that would turn cold, hard glares. They had no idea what fate awaited them. The second time Maya woke up, there was sunlight outside and someone was knocking at the door, but she didn't answer.

* * *

><p>"That was so boring!" complained Naruto upon finishing their mission. "Why the hell did we go so fast? We're already done and it's only the third day."<p>

"Be glad that nothing awful happened," Sakura snapped, annoyed with the heat beating down her back as they walked from Suna back to Konoha. "Actually, it probably wasn't so boring for Sasuke-kun, so put a lid on it."

Sasuke didn't acknowledge that he'd heard the pink-haired kunoichi, but she was absolutely right. He'd spent each visit struggling to convince people that he wasn't going to attack them. Apparently, he was a known criminal even as far as the land of the samurais who were wary of him despite being completely peaceful. It wasn't so much his struggle as it was Naruto and Sakura's, because he didn't say much to stand up for himself, but he felt every emotion nonetheless. Their blatant cautiousness around him reminded him that even in his home village there was work to do in order to blend in again. Then again, as an Uchiha, he never blended in much in the first place.

"Once we get to the woods, we'll make camp since the sun will have gone down by then. We'll make the home stretch in the morning," Kakashi told his team.

For the next few hours, they didn't talk much. It was hot and no one was happy with their situation, except maybe Naruto who would occasionally talk about how it was still weird that Gaara was Kazekage and other useless things. Sakura answered him sometimes, mostly to tell him to shut up. Kakashi found their antics amusing, relieved when Sasuke mentioned a few words. He'd been anticipating the Uchiha boy to hole up inside himself again, but it was good to see that he wasn't too affected by the mission's events. And with his return, his life could go back to normal.

They reached the forest, setting up camp swiftly as only finely-tuned ninjas could. Naruto stood with his hands on his hips, looking proudly at their handiwork. "That was the fastest I've ever set up camp before," he said with a grin.

"We're tired," Sasuke commented dryly.

Sakura almost laughed at his blunt honesty but kept it in check, crawling into her sleeping bag. She was the first asleep, followed by Naruto, then surprisingly Sasuke. Kakashi stayed awake a bit longer to make sure that no one was in the area. Feeling a presence, he snuck out of camp. Even though everyone was already asleep, he knew that they'd pulled a fast one over him before and faked it, waiting for him to sleep first so they could go off and do their own thing or whatever. Keeping his back to a tree, he rounded it, startled by the masked face that was inches from his.

"Hello, my name is Tobi, what's yours?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> I probably should've mentioned it in the last chapter; sorry to confuse. xD I went back and morphed a few of the first chapters together to make longer chapters since they were so short in comparison to the newer ones, so the chapters went about three back, and they now have titles. I've got 13, 14, and 15 written. I post the next chapter whenever I get a review on the last one. Otherwise I won't know that people want to continue reading. :P

There you have it! Explanation of the weird changes. Anyway, I'd like to hear thoughts. Kiba/Maya or Sasuke/Maya? Because Kiba definitely likes her, but I don't know if I want Maya to just be there to support Sasuke, or something more... I'd like romance between then buuuuut maybe she fits better with Kiba in the end? I don't know. Let me know!


	13. Life in Konoha

**Chapter 13: Life in Konoha**

"Hello, my name is Tobi, what's yours?"

Kakashi avoided looking straight into the hole of his mask. "You know who I am, Madara."

"Oh, so you know?" Madara's smirk was apparent in his voice alone. The Uchiha moved back a few paces, allowing Kakashi some room. "I was just here to pay a visit to Naruto, but even more intriguing is that Sasuke is one Team 7 again. How did that happen, Hatake-san?"

"What business do you have with Naruto?"

"Yeah." Kakashi closed his eyes in disbelief. The exact person whose voice he didn't want to hear at that moment was coming up behind him. "The others are sleeping so deeply they're practically snoring."

"And you left them there? What if he has others with him?" Kakashi hissed under his breath, glancing at the blonde ninja who was now beside him, his body tense. The copy ninja was at least glad that he recognized the threat.

"Don't worry, no one's here to attack anyone. I'm just here to talk," Madara said calmly.

"I don't care what you have to say," snarled Naruto. This was the man who had almost trapped Sasuke into becoming a ruthless killer and follower of Akatsuki. Without Maya, Sasuke would probably still be following Madara's every word, unknowingly falling into the older Uchiha's exact plans. "We're the ones with Sasuke now. You have no right to be near him!"

"But I do, Naruto Uzumaki," he responded smoothly. "We are the only ones who can rebuild the Uchiha clan from its ashes. _You_ have no right. You don't understand the pain he's gone through, the thirst for revenge still burning deep inside of him. Or maybe not so deep…?"

"Shut up!" shouted Naruto, reaching for a kunai, but Kakashi grabbed the blonde ninja's arm.

"Don't. You know your attacks won't work. Why do you think I just standing here when you came over?" he said quietly.

Naruto gritted his teeth together so hard it hurt.

"Anyway, I don't think Sasuke has had the opportunity to explain to you all about the truth behind Itachi," Madara went on. "Perhaps he doesn't trust you enough, but Itachi wasn't as much of a traitor as you might think. He died for the sake of Sasuke, and for Konoha."

"What the hell are you talking about?" countered Naruto, ready to leap at the lying bastard, but Kakashi still had a hold on him.

"When the Kyuubi attacked Konoha, the elders assumed it was the Uchiha clan trying to destroy Konoha. In retaliation, they really did form a coup d'état. Itachi was placed in the ANBU was a spy, but he was also feeding Konoha information about the Uchihas."

"A double spy," realized Kakashi, eyes widening.

Madara nodded. "Exactly. He killed his clan to prevent the balance of Konoha being thrown, yet he couldn't kill his own brother… That was his fatal mistake. He begged the Third not to tell his younger brother of what he'd done, even going so far as to make Sasuke kill him so that he could return to Konoha as a hero. Such a selfless person is rare."

"You failed to produce an avenger—is that why you're here, to take him back and feed him lies to turn him on Konoha? Make them seem like the bad guys?" Kakashi accused, gripping Naruto's arm tighter to make sure he wouldn't leap at the Uchiha.

"He already tried," an icy voice said venomously. Sasuke had suddenly appeared behind Madara; the older Uchiha jumped a little and shifted so that he could see all three ninjas at once, careful to mind his time. Only 38 seconds remained. "What are you doing here, Madara?"

"Jeez, I was just talking! Why does everyone keep thinking I'm gonna kill someone? Whatever, I just wanted to enlighten your teammates in case they didn't already know about what the elders and the Third did to you. Really, Sasuke, you were a true avenger until that girl—"

"Get out of here," Sasuke growled furiously. He couldn't bear to be in Madara's presence knowing how he'd tried to manipulate him and then appeared to be so innocent. He hated it. He hated Madara. It was his fault for being so power thirsty that his brother even _had_ to stop a coup d'état! Sasuke's hand shook—he curled it into a fist to try and control it.

Madara's eyes flickered between the blonde boy and his fellow Uchiha. "The Senju and Uchiha were always destined to fight," he said ominously, feeling his time slipping away. 9 seconds. "It is fate that you two—"

"What do you really want, Madara?" barked Kakashi, letting go of Naruto to reach for his weapons pocket. He knew from their last battle that his five minutes were almost up and he would be tangible again.

"To become… complete." 0 seconds. Madara vanished.

A few moments of strained silence ensued until Naruto spoke up. "The Senju and Uchiha?" he repeated, confused. He looked at his sensei. "Why did he look at me when he said that?"

The silver-haired ninja sighed, looking at Sasuke and fearing the hatred he saw in the Uchiha boy's eyes. "Let's get back to camp for now. I'll explain later."

Sasuke shook his head, clearing his mind of the pure, dark emotions. Without hearing was his sensei said, he headed back to camp, slipping into his sleeping bag silently. He wanted to see Maya's eyes, the old ones that were honey-colored and filled with innocence. Not these new, hard, dark brown ones that held sadness and experience. But she was the same person, so why had her eyes changed? Was it because of him? And if she _was_ the same person, she could've calmed him then. The rage building up inside of him scared Sasuke. He feared that he would chase after Madara at that moment, kill him mercilessly, if there wasn't anything holding him back, and that was his team.

While he'd never thought of them having a strong bond, they _were_ a sort of dysfunctional family. Around them he could act like himself and would receive no prejudice. They took him as he was, never giving up hope and welcoming him back with open arms despite what he did. How many people would do that? Although he wouldn't readily admit it, he was really grateful for their support. He'd seen the fury in Naruto's eyes as well, a fury that resulted from Madara's effect on Sasuke. It wasn't even personal for Naruto yet he'd displayed such strong emotion.

If Itachi was alive, he wondered if his older brother would've approved of Naruto to take his place.

Morning came without Sasuke realizing he'd ever slept in the first place. Sakura had woken up when Sasuke had the night before, but he placed her under a genjutsu to keep her away from Madara. A strange protectiveness had also been a part of that, something he'd felt for _very_ few people—mostly, though, it was the usual "I don't want her to meddle" type of thinking. He released her from it before anyone noticed and packed up his things without talking, even though the others idly chatted and yawned and complained about the cold nights. As much as he wanted to agree that he would've rather slept at him, he remembered what his home was now.

Since returning to Konoha, he hadn't been allowed to set foot in the Uchiha estate. They were at Konoha's gates in a few hours, travelling at a lazy pace since they were in no hurry on the return part of their mission. The meeting was in three days, but there was no word on who the village would be left to in Tsunade's absence. The guards let them in, only pausing to make sure there weren't any irregularities in their chakra. Kakashi took Sasuke with him to make the report so that his freedom could be made official. Naruto and Sakura on the other hand said that they were going to see how Maya had been doing for the past four days. They were surprised to find that she wasn't there.

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, shrugging.

"Hungry? Let's go eat some—"

_He's gonna say ramen, I know it, he's gonna say…_

"Ramen!"

Sakura deadpanned, but she had to admit that she _was_ in the mood for some ramen. She sighed in resignation. "Alright, let's go," she agreed, walking ahead of Naruto as he cheered. "I wonder who she's with, though."

"Maybe she got assigned to a team?" suggested Naruto. Then he grinned. "Or maybe Kiba snatched her up."

The pink-haired kunoichi almost laughed, but then realized how bad that would actually be. Her eyes grew. She whirled around, making Naruto falter and drop his arms that were previously behind his head, walking leisurely like he hadn't a care in the world. It reminded her of the hyper ninja he used to be, and it was really all Sasuke's fault. "Or maybe Kiba snatched her up!" she exclaimed.

"Didn't I just say that…?"

"Don't you understand? Sasuke would go berserk!" Sakura explained, waving her arms around for emphasis. She stopped, putting a hand to her chin. "Well, maybe not berserk. Maybe he's silently seethe, putting himself in every position to avoid her and slowly turning back in the monster she's keeping him from being with her gentle ways and sharp insight… Naruto, we have to find Kiba!"

He tilted his head, still confused and not reacting to the danger Sakura had just outlined for him. "Is it really that big of a deal? She's just a girl. He probably likes her for her boob—"

She sent him flying. "You insensitive jerk!"

Naruto jumped to his feet, nursing his hurt cheek with his hand. "That was uncalled for!"

"Whatever, just help me find him!"

Grumbling, Naruto brushed the dirt from his clothes and followed Sakura as she located Tenten at a street vendor and asked if she knew where Kiba was. The brown-haired girl thought about it.

"I don't know about him, but Hinata's been in the woods in the west training, or so I've heard. Someone said that the other day, they saw Hinata with some fox-haired girl and they were really going at it," Tenten mused, leaning to one side because of a heavy basket of weapons. "I'm curious to see, but today's my only free day so I'm out shopping."

"Thanks, Tenten, that was really helpful," Sakura said as quickly as possible, immediately locking on to the fox-haired girl. That was probably Maya. Her nerves were put at ease knowing that she was with Hinata and not Kiba, but hearing what Tenten said, she motioned for Naruto to follow again and headed off in the direction of the west woods.

"Where are we going?" the blonde ninja asked, not enjoying being dragged around by his med-nin teammate.

"To Hinata," she answered patiently.

"Why? We already know Maya's not with Kiba, so let's go to Ichiraku's already," he whined.

"Do you think of anyone but yourself and Sasuke lately?" snapped Sakura without taking her eyes off the road ahead of her. "I get not caring about other teams as much, but what about Kakashi or even me?"

"I care about—!" Naruto started to protest.

"No, you don't!" she shot back. "All you've been thinking about is Sasuke leaving, Sasuke going bad, getting Sasuke back so that _you_ can be happy."

"You wanted that, too!" he pointed out over her continued rant, not listening to what she was saying because he focused on being louder than her.

Sakura stopped talking abruptly. "Shut up," she muttered. "That's not everything to me. I have being a medical ninja, I have taking care of people, I have regular training so I don't drag anyone down. I have so much more than one person, Naruto. Think about the whole village. You want to be Hokage one day, don't you?"

"Fine," he conceded, halting before he could go on. Sakura had frozen too. Between the trees were flashes of what looked to be blue and red chakra and blurs of larger, multi-colored shapes that they assumed were Maya and Hinata. The chakras would clash for a second, no longer than a blink, burst apart, and clash together again. The speed was incredible—so fast, neither of them could really follow the battle. It was understandable that Maya would have some hidden ability like that, given that she was a demon, but Hinata's development as well was a shock.

The clashes became more prolonged, lasting several seconds. Maya would rush forward, using her speed to seemingly teleport behind Hinata and slash at the blind spot at the back of her neck with what looked to be a claw of pure, dark red chakra. It reminded Sakura of the Kyuubi's chakra but this was much darker. Naruto felt pulled towards it be some unknown force, even walking a few steps before being called back to reality by his pink-haired teammate.

"What are you doing, Naruto? We shouldn't get involved in this," she said, a sort of breathlessness to her voice.

He nodded absentmindedly, mesmerized by the red gashes that seemed to form in the sky. From here, it looked as if they were practicing taijutsu, something that Hinata was already somewhat skilled at. She hadn't mastered it, but watching the two of them spar seemed like a match between two seasoned taijutsu users. The way they incorporated chakra into the attacks made them even stronger. Suddenly, the blue chakras stopped. Hinata fell out of the trees, landing hard on her back, and without even thinking, Sakura rushed to the Hyuga girl's aid.

But when she arrived, Maya was already kneeling next to her, channeling her red chakra directly to the dark-haired girl's wounds. The demon girl looked up, smiling at Sakura. "Hey, you're back."

"We're… back," she affirmed slowly, shocked. "Who taught you that?"

"Karin," Maya admitted, embarrassed. She didn't try to be a medic ninja, and this wasn't even a real medical technique. Her demon chakra just healed wounds faster and by learning to transfer it, like Karin's technique, Hinata was able to sit up again within seconds. The russet-haired girl bit her lip before saying, "I took it too far this time. Maybe we should let up on the taijutsu and try something else. I don't really know much ninjutsu but I could try…"

"No!" Hinata immediately opposed the idea. She shook her head sharply. "Absolutely not. I'm almost there, Maya, we can't stop now!"

She hesitated. Although it may have felt that way to the Hyuga girl, it wasn't the case. Without Maya's help of channeling demon chakra into her, Hinata wouldn't be able to move at such speeds. It was just for the sake of letting her see how it felt. "Hinata…" she started, but she was cut off by Naruto's enthusiastic interruption.

"Holy shit, you two were amazing!" he shouted, making Hinata jump.

"N-Naruto? You were w-watching?" the byakugan user gasped, reverting to her shy stuttering. Maya lightly punched her in the side so that no one else would see. This made Hinata catch her mistake and confidently get to her feet. "I-I mean, what did you think?" The honest question took a lot of courage to actually put into words, but the grin she got in return was worth it.

"Incredible!" Naruto said again, eyes shining. "I didn't know you had it in you! And Maya, damn! I knew you were fast, but wow."

Maya laughed. "Thanks, Naruto." Wiping sweat from her brow, she suddenly noticed the absence of the other two team members. "Where are Kakashi and Sasuke?"

"Turning in a report and making Konoha's trust in Sasuke official," Sakura answered, still a little dazed by what she'd seen. "But Naruto's right. Hinata, how did you get so fast in such a short amount of time?"

"Well…" She looked at Maya shyly, unsure if she should reveal their training method.

"I give her some of my chakra," explained Maya, and seeing the look in Sakura's eyes, she nodded. "Yes, I know it's dangerous, but it's a small amount. I focus it to her feet, mostly, just so that she can see what it's like to be at my level. She insisted that I shouldn't hold back. Since she's felt how it's done with my chakra, in a couple weeks, she could be reaching the same speed with her own chakra. Her control is unparalleled."

"I see," Sakura smiled. She was glad that the shy Hinata was finally getting the proper training she deserved. "Well, if you're confident, I guess I should leave it up to you two. Have you heard anything else on the jounin exam?"

With a sigh, Maya said, "Yes. They are to be held before the Hokage leaves. In case something happens that starts a war at the meeting of the five Kages, Konoha wants to have as many jounin as possible in the village for protection."

"That's in two days!"

"I know," she acknowledged, smiling unhappily. "You can't imagine how much pressure that is. I'm not even sure if I'm ready…"

"You'll definitely pass," Hinata told the older girl.

"With flying colors," Naruto added helpfully, grinning.

"It's true," Sakura confirmed.

"Thank you all," the demon girl said sincerely, bowing. Hinata tapped Maya's shoulder so that she lifted herself up, cheeks tinged with a light pink color. "I'm really glad to have met people like you."

"_Now_ can we go to Ichiraku's?" the blonde shinobi begged after a few heartbeats. The three girls burst out laughing, leaving Naruto completely bewildered. "What? _What?_"

"Nothing, Naruto, let's just go," giggled Sakura, pushing him along. With a shrug, he let it go, happy just to get his ramen.

That night, Hinata walked Maya back to her apartment, stopping at the entrance to the building. She had noticed a certain someone walking down the stairs from the upper level who hadn't been around for a while. "See you tomorrow, Maya," Hinata said, waving as she left.

Maya stood there for a moment, confused, but when she turned around she understood. Looping a finger in her hair tie, Maya pulled it down, releasing her russet-colored locks. She smiled at Sasuke as he approached. "Hey, how'd it go?"

He shrugged. "Why were you with Hinata Hyuga?"

"We've been training together," she answered, sensing that something was off. Maya furrowed her brow. "Did anything happen during the mission?"

Sasuke's eyes flashed. "Something like that," he said.

Maya waited for more, but he didn't say anything else, so she pressed, "What happened?"

"Never mind for now. I just came back to tell you that I'm moving back into my house, in the Uchiha estate," he went on, resting an hand on her head suddenly. She blinked in surprise. "Since it's okay for me to do whatever I want now, how about you come with me?"

"I-I don't think that's a good idea," she stuttered, feeling strange to have him so close to her. When she was a child, it was fine, normal even. "I'm going to try for jounin in two days, and then I'll be free too, so it's best to wait until then…"

With a sigh, Sasuke slid his hand off her head, letting it sit on her shoulder. He stared into her eyes for a moment, a pained look crossing his expression before he moved his hand to her back and pulled her toward him. Sasuke's other arm came up as well, holding her in an embrace that forced her head to rest on his chest. "Forget about the elders. From what I've been hearing, enough people don't trust him that he's bound to do something stupid soon and then he'll get what's coming to him, worse than what I could possibly do," he whispered into her ear. "Instead, I know who I want to kill the most."

A shiver went down her spine, hearing the malice in his voice. "Who?" she asked breathlessly, fear spiking into her heart when he hissed the name.

"Madara Uchiha."

* * *

><p>There was only one day left to prepare for the jounin exam. Hinata arrived in the morning, right on time as usual, but Maya had taken so long to fall asleep that she didn't hear the Hyuga girl at the door, only waking up when Hinata had entered and shaken her awake. Groaning, Maya turned over on her back and rubbed one eye, yawning. "What are you doing here?" she mumbled sleepily.<p>

"I want to take you to see someone who's already a jounin," she said with a smile, but then it faltered and she blushed heavily. "And please get dressed quickly. I'll be waiting outside."

Maya laughed, remembering that she slept naked because of her lack of clothes. Hinata washed her clothes every other day, so today her clothes were kind of smelly from the day before. She hoped that whoever they were meeting would be understanding. After putting on her vest and black capris, she picked up the black necklace Hinata had given her as a symbol of their friendship. On the end of the black leather rope was a charm, a small dolphin with "luck liquid" inside of it which was really just water since it was a kid's necklace, but it made her smile as she put it on nonetheless. She left her gloves since they'd torn yesterday, unable to handle the intensity of their training.

Shutting the door behind her, Maya greeted her dark-haired companion with a salute. "Morning, captain!"

Hinata giggled. "Come on, we're going to the hospital."

"Huh? How come?" she questioned, following the younger girl out the entrance of the apartment complex. Only part of her was nervous now since the hospital meant she'd get to see Karin and Jugo. It was normal for Karin to be there, but Jugo's team had been hospitalized the other day because they had a little misunderstanding with some Cloud nin and Jugo had gone berserk, harming not only the Cloud nin but also his two ANBU friends. Their friendship had been opposed by the council at first, but then they realized that it would be a bad decision to take Jugo away, so they'd agreed that he could stay with them.

"I've told you about Kurenai, right? She's almost ready to give birth so they've been keeping her in the hospital," Hinata explained, picking up an empty can off the ground and throwing it out in the nearest trash can. She kept doing this as they walked, talking about how things were going in the house now that she was out training most of the time. "Father is a little suspicious, but the condition I return in every night seems to have convinced him enough to let me continue. He's requested that I spar with Neji someday soon, when he doesn't have so many missions to keep up with."

"To see how you've progressed, eh?" Maya mused. A grin appeared on her face while she thought. "You know, I have some experience in fighting a Hyuga. Maybe I could teach you how I avoid your attacks, and you could even mix your byakugan into it to make it even stronger."

"Once you become a jounin, you're going to have your own team," she pointed out with a frown. "You'll be too busy to even think about me."

"Nonsense," the demon girl dismissed. "I'll always have time for my friends." They turned on to the pathway leading to the hospital, the scene before them making Maya freeze for a second before waving enthusiastically. Jugo was in the front, playing with Akamaru. Just as they were within earshot of the large orange-haired man and the dog, Kiba exited the building, holding the door open for Kurenai. The woman's eyes lit up when she saw Hinata.

"Hinata-chan!" she said excitedly, hurrying over as fast as she could with that huge belly of hers. Maya glanced over at Jugo apologetically, wanting to go over and play with Akamaru as well, but this was more important for now. "And who's this?"

Maya looked back at Kurenai, bowing quickly and rising with a smile. "My name is Maya. Nice to meet you."

"Oh, so you're the famed Maya-san," she ruminated with a soft smile. "I'm afraid I can't bow, but I'm Yuuhi Kurenai. It's a pleasure. What brings you two here?"

"Maya is going to be taking the jounin exam tomorrow before the Hokage-sama leaves," Hinata spoke up. "Since I don't know much about it, I was hoping you could give her a few tips to help her prepare."

"Of course," Kurenai agreed willingly. "How about we stay outside? I haven't been able to wander much lately, but I said I was going to walk Kiba home so they let me out." She turned her body a little to call to Kiba. When he jogged over, she asked, "Is it alright if we walk back with these two girls? It seems like we have something to discuss."

"Sure, no problem," Kiba nodded with a grin. He whistled for Akamaru, promising Jugo that he'd be back sometime in the future, and then faced back towards the women, letting them know he was ready. His eyes rested on Maya's back, watching her hair swish back and forth, curious about the black stripe down the middle. Surely she didn't have the time to dye it, so that must mean that it was natural. He assumed that it was a demon thing, like Naruto's whiskers, but he couldn't think of an animal with those colors.

Maya eagerly took her place by Kurenai; she was really quite pretty. Her baby would definitely be cute, so she decided to questioned, "What gender is it?"

"A boy," she said with a gentle smile. "Enough about that. We'll have plenty of time to talk about that some other day. You came to me about the jounin exams, correct? I'm not sure how I could be of help, though…"

"I have absolutely no idea what it'll be like, since I haven't taken any other exams here, so anything would be useful to know," Maya prompted, trying not too seem too overzealous. She was really quite nervous about the exams, though she didn't let it show, but another part of her was incredibly excited. With this, she could be accepted by the people of Konoha. Her reputation would no longer be a demon girl—since the people of the village seemed to have a deep fear of demons, people had generally avoided her like the plague. After becoming a jounin…

"Well," Kurenai started thoughtfully, "I suppose the most important thing is that with short notice like this, it'll probably be a one-on-one fight to conserve time. It won't be a battle to the death, just something to assess if you fight and think like a jounin. If you have someone to vouch for you, that also seems to help."

"Kakashi-san will definitely say good things about her," piped Hinata. "And her teaching is excellent. I've progressed so much with her around."

"Really? That's great, both of you," she praised.

Blushing a little, Maya insisted, "It's nothing. I'm better at observing than fighting, though, so I notice a lot of things. I guess that's why some people think I'm a good teacher."

"Leadership skills are important as a jounin," acknowledged Kurenai. "But if you can't fight at all…"

"She's skilled in taijutsu, and I've never seen anyone as fast as her," Kiba suddenly interjected.

Kurenai turned herself a little so that she could see him, eyebrows raised. "You've seen her?"

"Yeah, with Hinata," he nodded. "The two of them were moving so fast, I swear only someone with a dojutsu could've seen them. And even though Hinata's _really_ good—even I can't beat her—somehow Maya always knocks her on her back. She doesn't have a clue about ninjutsu or genjutsu, and that's what someone who notices will aim for."

"Very nice analysis, Kiba," she said in surprise.

He grinned proudly. "I've gotten a lot of tips from Maya, so I thought that I'd watch her a little to see if I could help her, too," admitted Kiba. "I hope that's okay. Still, it took me a lot longer to catch on than you."

Maya shook her head, smiling despite herself. She was glad to have rubbed off on the 'act-before-you-think' Kiba. "Of course it's okay. It's completely true. I've worked methods around things like Hinata's byakugan, but it took me a few hours," she explained to Kurenai. "I can't build up a defense against something in a couple minutes that I've never seen before."

"Like genjutsu," the former teacher mused. "You know, that's my specialty, and I'd really love to help, but…"

"Not at all!" Maya interrupted immediately, hoping she wouldn't feel too bad. "I'm happy that you even thought to try it on me."

She smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry. But hopefully you don't get paired with a genjutsu user. There aren't too many of those, anyway," she assured. "Why don't you train with Kiba and Akamaru for a while? The two of them have some pretty unique ninjutsu you could get accustomed to, since all you've seen is Hinata's."

"I've also seen Team 7's training," added Maya.

"Good. Well then, we're at the Inuzuka's veterinary office, so I'll be heading back now. Good luck, Maya-san," Kurenai said with a parting wave.

"Ah, wait, Kurenai-sensei!" Hinata called out abruptly, making the pregnant woman stop in her tracks. "U-Uhm, if Maya doesn't need me for now, is it alright if we walk back together?"

Kurenai's lips curled into a motherly smile. "Yes. It's been a while since we've talked, just the two of us, hasn't it? Tell me all sorts of stories…"

Maya couldn't help smiling at the two dark-haired women walking off together. They seemed like mother and daughter, almost, and she could see the closeness between the two of them. Turning to Kiba, she clapped her hands together. "So," she grinned. "Ready to get your ass kicked?"

"As if," Kiba snorted, pulling himself onto Akamaru. "Race you there!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong> Okay, since this fic isn't very popular, I see no reason to drag it out. I've got up to 15 written and it actually seems like an okay end. If anyone ever wants me to continue, I'll consider it. So on to post the last two chapters! :)


	14. Jounin

**Chapter 14: Jounin**

Akamaru sniffed the two lifeless bodies on the ground. Well, they weren't really lifeless, since they were panting like crazy. The girl suddenly started laughing. "Shit, Kiba! I didn't know how tired I'd get fighting out of my element!" she exclaimed cheerfully, hauling herself up into a sitting position and grinning down at him. "But I still won."

He let out a laugh as well in between pants. "You're crazy, I definitely won," he countered.

She crawled over to him and ruffled his hair. "Silly. I only let my back touch the ground because you were already defeated," she said with a wink. Then she hopped to her feet and dusted the dirt off her back. "Anyway, come on. Unless you want your parents to wonder where you've been all night, we better start walking to my place so you can get home soon."

Groaning, Kiba rolled over. Akamaru noticed his master's laziness and nudged him with his nose, flipping him onto his back again. He whined in the boy's ear. "Alright, alright!" he huffed, slowly rising. "Ow ow ow…"

Maya giggled. "Don't be such a baby. Maybe a race will help loosen you up?" she teased, jogging backwards out of the woods. Not paying attention, she hit her back on a tree—a branch poking out shot a stab of pain up her spine. "Gah!" she shrieked, lunging forward and rubbing the sore spot unhappily.

"That's what you get," Kiba taunted, riding up on Akamaru. He held out a hand to her which she just stared at. "I know, you're tough, but under it all I bet you're exhausted too. So get on." She hesitated for a moment before smiling and getting on behind him. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she rested her head on his back, relaxed. It was always nice to feel the wind in her hair when she rode Akamaru. Her eyes closed slowly, only realizing that she'd fallen asleep when Kiba started untangling her arms.

Mumbling sleepily, Maya didn't notice she had no hold on him anymore and slipped off, caught by her wrist before she could hit her head on the ground. She blinked up at him in surprise, suddenly away. "Hi."

"Hi," he laughed, holding onto her until she got her feet under her. Then Kiba jumped off, walking a few paces ahead of Maya, heading towards her door. She followed, her feet dragging in the dirt. He turned around to see her falling behind and let her catch up. "What's up with you? You weren't this tired before."

Stifling a yawn, Maya answered, "I've been training every day with Hinata… I was in bad shape when she started… God, that girl gives me such a work out. I'm sore everywhere times two now."

"_That_ was 'in bad shape'?" he clarified, his tone incredulous.

She shot him a look. "Whatever, I'm probably exaggerating. I'm not amazing, okay? I suck at anything but chakra control, and that's why I'm so fast," she sighed.

"That's all you need, I guess," mused Kiba. "You figured out how to bypass every one of my techniques in two hours—perfectly."

"Most battles don't last that long," she pointed out. "I struggled in the beginning, didn't I?"

He shrugged in reply, leaning against her door. Kiba slumped a little in that position, bringing their eyes on the same level. In the dark, he could hardly see her face but he knew the exact shade of brown her eyes were, knew exactly were her barely noticeable freckles were, knew that her hair was probably tucked behind her left ear but not her right. He brought his hand up to her face impulsively, both of them silent. Only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

"Ki-Kiba…?" Maya whispered in shock, feeling his hand crawl to the back of her neck. He forced her head forward, but she didn't resist—she didn't know if that was because of her astonishment or because she didn't mind that Kiba was clearly about to kiss her.

But he stopped, their lips touching ever so lightly before he pulled back with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck as he took a couple steps back. "I guess… I'll see you… when I see you," he said, stumbling over his thoughts which resulted in a really stupid-sounding farewell.

Maya could only nod numbly.

Hesitating, Kiba looked away for a moment, then back at her with troubled eyes. "I'm sorry about that… I know you're Sasuke's, so… Just forget about that, please," he pressed. He felt so stupid, so embarrassed for even trying, he just wanted to make it go away as fast as possible. Without hearing her response, he quickly walked away, whistling for Akamaru. The large dog loped up to him, whining as his owner got on and ordered for him to run all the way home. Maya watched him disappear into the night, her head spinning.

With her back to her door, Maya slid to the floor, wide eyes staring forward blankly. "I'm… Sasuke's?" she whispered, stunned. "…what was that…?" Shaking her head, Maya rested her forehead on her knees which she pulled up to her chest. She'd never been romantically involved with anyone before. Kiba's glances, his blushes, his compliments… were all a result of his infatuation with her? Maya bit her lip. That was impossible. There was nothing good about her. She was a failure as a demon, she was a failure as a ninja—all she could do was run and dodge. Those were the things a coward did. And by not reacting to Kiba, was that another degree of her cowardice?

Kiba was a good guy, anyway. He'd never _act_ to get a girl to like him. That boy was definitely genuine, shown by the way he didn't finish the kiss. She pressed her lips together, easing the pain from biting it and feeling a slight buzz; leftover sensations from when they'd touched Kiba's. A raging blush made its way to her cheeks. No way. A girl like her almost k-k-k-kissing someone?

The realization seemed to finally hit her, causing her to pass out briefly. Maya blinked her eyes open, the world strangely tilted until she realized that she'd fallen over. She didn't make a move to get up. Instead, she stretched her legs out and lay on her side, still in front of her door. She could've easily gone inside, but the night air was comforting. Focusing on it let her forget about Kiba for the moment. Anyway, he'd already pretty much taken it back, so she could pretend like nothing happened, right?

Sighing, she closed her eyes, letting herself drift off. _Mm… Summer air definitely smells the best in the human world…_

Something nudged her foot. Thinking it was Akamaru in her half-asleep state, Maya grumbled and kicked at it, but it got more aggressive, biting her ankle. She gasped in pain, jerking up onto her elbows and eyes shooting open to see a snake retracting its fangs from her ankle with an intimidating hiss. Panic made her unable to breath, frozen as the snake curled itself around her leg and squeezed. Unfamiliar with snakes, she thought the best thing to do was remain still… until it squeezed so hard it broke her bone.

The scream the escaped her then echoed so loud she was sure the entire village had heard, yet no one came running. Her breathing came back, but it got stuck in her throat a few times. Tears welled up in her eyes as the snake continued to squeeze tighter, breaking more bones. She bit her lip until it bled, trying not to cry out again. Firm in her belief that she should stay still, Maya didn't move, hoping that the snake would think she was unworthy prey and move on. It paused halfway up her leg, squeezing as if testing her out, but it couldn't break her shin bone. Giving up, the snake reared its head, darting forward to deliver another bite to her knee before slithering off.

Maya didn't dare even blink until the snake was out of sight. Once it crawled into some bushes, she flopped on her back heavily, shaking so hard she might as well have been naked in the middle of a blizzard. After mostly composing herself half an hour later, Maya struggled to her feet, her right leg unsurprisingly numb. It was the snake's venom and the bone breaks, but she trusted her healing abilities to make it all better by morning. That didn't mean that it wasn't hurting like hell, though. Dragging her useless leg along painfully, the demon girl sat down on a chair in the kitchen and reached back to open the freezer and grab a handful of ice. With her other hand, she leaned forward to the middle of the table for the towel there.

Putting the ice in the center of the towel, she picked it up like it was an ice pack and gingerly touched it to her ankle. She sharply sucked in, determined not to make a sound after that pathetic scream earlier. Maya mechanically held it in place while her heavy head, fuzzy with the venom, dropped onto the table. Eyes closing, she made sure that she was holding the ice pack properly before allowing herself to doze off.

_A boy with darkness all around him stood a couple hundred feet away. The only visible part of him was the blood running down his cheeks, like bright red triangles. He was familiar, but she didn't know his name. Reaching his arm out, the boy asked for her to come closer. She obeyed, having no control over her movement. Her russet-colored hair shone in the dim light, the black stripe invisible in the darkness._

_The boy took her hand in his which distorted, becoming flexible and boneless, winding around her arm and up to her shoulder. His other hand came up to touch the immobile Maya's cheek before swirling into a snake's head, tongue flicking out to glide across her freckled nose. Her eyes were practically bulging out with the fear that caused her heart to pound so hard that it was literally visible under her chest, its shape protruding with each frantic beat._

_Snake arms wrapped all around her, head to toe, were unnecessary. Even without the restraints, Maya couldn't move, and somehow it was of her own will. She wanted to scream, but it was muted. Her head was about to explode from the effort it was taking her to scream, so she stopped. It was getting her nowhere. The snake head removed itself from her face, enchanted by her fiercely beating heart. Its eyes glinted hungrily._

"_No, please—!" Maya finally cried, but it was too late. The snake snapped its head forward, catching the heart mid-beat and tearing it out of Maya's chest. Swallowing it in one gulp, the snake morphed back into a boy's hand. Restraints gone, Maya started to fall, but there was no ground anymore, only bottomless black until—_

Maya drew in a shaky breath, uneasy from the nightmare. But she could tell right away that something was off. The eyes she saw the kitchen through were nothing like her usual human eyes. This unique view reminded her somewhat of her squirrel form… Her eyes travelled down to her… what should've been her hands but were now reddish brown paws placed firmly on the tile floor of her kitchen. Glancing back up in realization, Maya noticed that her transformation had knocked two of the chair over and pushed the table back into a wall.

She turned her head quickly, looking for a mirror. Remembering that the only one was in the bathroom, she huffed unhappily. It was closed and she didn't have a way to open it besides breaking it down. Maya searched the room for the time, noticing her torn clothes out of the corner of her eye. _Great, I have nothing to wear now… What am I supposed to do now? I didn't think I'd see this form so soon… What day is it?_

Getting an idea, Maya squeezed through her bedroom doorframe and trotted over to the digital clock on her nightstand. Thankfully, it was only 1:38am, giving her another few hours to sleep once she figured everything out. _There was a button on it for the date somewhere…_ she thought in frustration, unable to spot it. She could see a lot better in the dark but somehow, the kanji mixed together and became undecipherable to her eyes. With her annoyance, she started making strange sounds, which made her freeze, thinking it was something else.

Then she laughed at herself, emitting a sound that made her jump in shock. It was an animal laugh that was so different from her cute squirrel laugh when she was in that form. Angry with the situation, she swiped a huge paw across the nightstand, almost knocking the small wooden table over as well as the lamp (which shattered instantly) and the clock. She glowered at it despondently before blinking. The screen had changed. Inching closer, she tilted her massive head down, unaccustomed to its weight and nearly falling forward.

But the sight that met her made a gasp, or what could pass as a gasp, escape her. _I should've paid more attention! It's my birthday! No wonder I'm not a cute squirrel anymore… Well, I guess it'll be true if they say I look more like my father now, huh? _she thought with a chuckle that she immediately stopped. The growling sounds that emerged from this mouth were extremely unappealing. Truthfully, her adult form didn't make much of a difference. It simply meant more power, but it wasn't as if she chose to use it so far, anyway. She'd kept her powers switched off for the majority of the time she'd spent in Konoha, hoping that by abstaining from her demon qualities, she could be accepted.

She doubted that most teenage—now adult—ninja had to deal with this sort of situation, though… Maya whined as she jumped the small distance up onto her bed, turning around a couple times before literally curling up on her bed. Since she'd transformed, the larger amounts of demon power had healed her leg completely, but apparently the fear of snakes hadn't dissipated because she dreamed of them again. Luckily, the fright caused her to change back into her human form. That was one problem solved, given that a larger form meant it needed more control, something she didn't have yet.

When morning came and there was a knock at the door, it wasn't the usual soft three knocks from Hinata. Worried, Maya quickly stood up and wrapped the sheets around herself like a giant towel. It dragged behind her as she hurried towards the door where another few knocks were made, followed by a male voice calling, "If you don't come out in the next thirty seconds, I'm—"

Maya flung the door open, smiling as if she was unaware of her disheveled hair and makeshift dress. "Morning, Sasuke, do you mind leaving?" she asked politely.

He raised an eyebrow in question but didn't have the time to ask before Maya stuck her leg out from under the sheet dress and pushed him out of the doorway by using her foot to nudge him away. She then closed the door in his face, heart racing. The sheets dropped to the floor unexpectedly, causing her to shriek ungracefully when Sasuke's voice came again from the other side, "What I said still stands, and now you have twenty seconds."

"Sasuke!" she cried, flustered. "I'm in a dire situation here!"

"Brush your hair then," he suggested, and she could imagine him shrugging.

"That's not what I meant," Maya sighed in exasperation, though it was a good idea. "Can't you just get Hinata in here?"

"What can she do that I can't?" countered Sasuke grumpily. "Ten seconds."

"I don't have any clothes!" she finally yelled.

There was a stretch of silence. Then, "Your seconds are up."

She thought quickly—what had his threat been? If you don't come out in the next thirty seconds, I'm… Shit, she'd interrupted before he could finish. Hearing the door knob turn, she swiftly grabbed the sheets from the ground and pulled them over her shoulders as she ran into the bathroom, shutting the door on the sheets but stubbornly leaving it like that. She could hear Sasuke's footsteps approaching.

"What in the world are you doing?" Sasuke inquired with something that sounded like stifled amusement from the other side of the door.

Sniffing, Maya replied, "Brushing my hair." She snatched up a nearby brush and brushed her hair, just so that she wasn't lying.

"The exams are in an hour," he reminded her with an impatient sigh. "Stop being so difficult."

"I told you, I don't have clothes," she reminded him indignantly.

"What did you even do to them?"

"I transformed unexpectedly in my sleep."

"Into a squirrel? But…"

"Don't try to understand," she grumbled. "I'll explain another time. Just… just get me some clothes, please?"

"…what size?"

Looking at herself in the mirror, she could actually see the blush tingeing her cheeks this time, making her even more embarrassed. "Wh-whatever you think is right…"

Sasuke sighed again, shifting around before saying, "Fine. Stay here," and heading off.

When the door closed, relief flooded her, putting her more at ease as she sat down on the closed toilet seat, still brushing her hair idly. It wasn't very long until Sasuke returned, ordering her to open the door a crack so that he could toss the clothes in. Shockingly, the first thing she noticed was the Uchiha crest on the shirt. "Sasuke?" she called through the door. "Is this a mistake? I think you accidentally brought the wrong set of clothes…"

"Those are the right clothes," he replied evenly.

If he felt any emotion giving her such symbolic clothing, he didn't show it. She thought it was a little too meaningful and almost threw it back out. Then she thought that maybe that would be even more disrespectful, so she plucked the shirt out of the pile, a black vest with a more square shape, but it was similar to hers anyway and she appreciated the effort. The pants were almost an exact replica of her black capris. It felt a little loose, but that was fine. She finally stepped out, feeling the Uchiha paper fan weighing heavily on her back. Maya smiled weakly at Sasuke who was wearing a similar outfit. They matched a little too well.

"Ready?"

"Are you sure it's okay for me to go out in public like this?" she muttered, walking towards the door with her head down.

"Sure. You _are_ mine, after all."

Maya froze, slowly lifting her head and turning around. What?

Sasuke's eyes held her gaze steadily, no sign of any emotion in them or on his face, even as he went on to say, "Isn't that what Kiba said last night?"

"You were there?" Her mouth was slightly open in shock.

He shrugged. "Was I?" Sasuke retorted mysteriously.

She narrowed her eyes. "What are you saying, Sasuke?" the demon girl demanded, not liking his tone.

"It's a good thing you heal fast or I might not have been able to—" he started smoothly.

"That was _you_?" Maya interrupted, her voice higher than usual from sheer disbelief. "That snake was _yours_? H-How could you! What the hell is wrong with you!" She threw her arms up, letting them fall back to her sides as she shook her head in amazement. "I can't fucking believe you. What's going on? The Sasuke I know wouldn't do something so outrageous." The words were flowing from her mouth without first passing through a filter in her mind, so as she spoke, realization dawned on her. There was something more. Definitely. Forgetting her anger, she took a few steps closer to Sasuke who hadn't moved from her bedroom door.

His jaw went slack. "You're already over it?" he asked in astonishment, fury battling with surprise in his eyes. Sasuke stepped back, uneasy because of how close she was getting. They were engaged in a sort of dance that abruptly ended when his foot hit the end of her bed and Maya came right up in front of him, standing on her tip toes to see directly into his eyes.

"If you're pissed that I kissed Kiba, torture me," she challenged dangerously, nothing but coldness in her gaze. It shocked Sasuke. He'd never seen her like this. "Use your mangekyou sharingan on me. Go on! Hurt me even more! Make sure I feel it this time, because that snake was nothing but a tickle. Go on, Sasuke! Or… are you afraid I'll see into you?" Maya smirked, an expression that didn't suit her. "Scared I'll find out what's really going on in that complicated mind of yours, Sasuke Uchiha?"

A shiver rolled down his spine at the way she said his name. Sasuke kept his face impassive but on the inside, he was hating this. Hating seeing her face contort into something that wasn't her, wasn't gentle, wasn't calming like the Maya _he_ knew. Demon energy oozed from her. He could almost feel it wrapping around him, prying into his mind, and the way her dark brown eyes suddenly seemed pitch black, staring deep into him, he knew that she was teasing him, saying that she could easily turn on her abilities and peek into his head.

"Stop it," he growled, turning away. Sasuke shouldered past her. "Let's just—"

Something kept him from moving. Once, he'd been caught in Shikamaru's shadow technique, and in some ways, this was similar, except it felt like his soul had been tethered to something dark and dangerous. Sasuke grunted with the effort to break free but he was completely held down. The demon girl came around from behind, still smirking at him. And then she unleashed her abilities, glaring easily into his every thought. Fighting to keep her out, Sasuke thought of the day he mastered the fireball jutsu, how proud he felt, how excited he was to show his father, to show—

Itachi.

Revenge.

Madara.

She found what she was looking for despite Sasuke's efforts to derail her. Maya clenched her jaw hard, struggling to keep back tears when she saw his new plan. The one he almost asked her to join him in, arriving to her apartment in order to discuss it, only to find her kissing Kiba. She felt the betrayal burning in his veins when he saw the seen, the blind anger that caused him to set that snake on her. She saw him deliberate how to kill Madara, each method ending in his death. Yet he found need to tell her about any of this, visiting her now for the sole reason to say goodbye.

"Not if I don't let you go," she snarled, her voice cracking. "Sasuke, I can't let you go! It's a suicide mission. You obviously know that." Her dark eyes were glaring at him, mercilessly accusing, so deeply unhappy that he desperately wanted to turn away but he couldn't because she was holding him there. Sasuke focused on his breathing instead of the situation at hand, causing her to break into a sob, which she cut off immediately, turning her back to him to compose herself. Once she was stable, Maya turned back around, her expression calmer.

"Can you give me a chance to convince you?" she asked quietly, pleadingly.

Sasuke opened his mouth hesitantly, ready to protest but not wanting to.

Eyes glistening, Maya shook her head hard. "Don't say that…" She wanted to turn her powers off so that his overpowering feelings of hate wouldn't bleed into her own soul, but if she did, she wouldn't know his true thoughts or if he was even telling the truth. "Madara is going to be a wanted criminal soon enough, so please wait…"

"Wait until what?" Sasuke snapped, finding that he was able to talk. "Wait until he starts killing innocent people for the sake of his goal? To become _complete_. What bullshit! He doesn't have a goddamn soul. He destroyed his own clan. He _deserves_ to pay, Maya, can't you see that?"

Her eyes cleared and were now watching him evenly as she released her hold on him. "He does deserve to pay," she agreed. "He's already killed innocent people. That alone deserves punishment. But not at the cost of your life, Sasuke. If that's truly his goal…" Maya looked away guiltily. There were several reasons why she knew what Madara meant by that, but she wasn't prepared to tell anyone yet. "He's dangerous. Please, let's wait, until Konoha decides to go after him directly. You'll have back up that way, skilled ninjas who will ensure that you don't die."

"They'll all be looking after themselves. I'm no more special than anyone on a mission like that. We'd all be going on a suicide mission," he retorted angrily. "There's no reason for me to wait until he brings more disaster. If I can end this now, I will."

"You can't, though!" she cried, trying to get through to him. "Not even with me! You can imagine how strong Madara is. _You can't take him down!_"

Sasuke's eyes flashed. "Are you saying I'm weak?"

"I'm saying Madara is stronger," Maya asserted with a sigh. "As an Uchiha, no one will be able to deny that you should be one of the people to kill Madara. Good things come to those who wait, right?" She attempted a smile but it came out looking feeble. Maya closed the distance between them, cautiously snaking her arms around his waist and pulling him to her. Head on his chest, Maya could feel and hear his reassuring heartbeat. He was still here, still alive. For now. She squeezed tighter, fearing that if she let go, he would bolt out that door, never to be seen again.

"Let go," he said wearily. She did as he requested, only unwrapping her arms to look up into his black eyes. A bit of relief came over her, seeing that they weren't red. "I'm tired, so I'll watch your exam, but if you don't pass, I'm going after Madara. I don't even need to tell you the rest, do I?"

"Thank you, Sasuke," she said, her words thick with gratitude. He felt sick thinking that he might have to leave this girl who cared about him so much. It was a mystery to Sasuke why she'd go so far to keep him alive and on the path that his brother had wanted for him. With her powers still on, Maya felt a blush creep over her cheeks, but even in her embarrassment she smiled at him, a real on this time.

"Sasuke, I will lend you my strength," Maya repeated from memory. "You know that. I'll do anything to make you happy. I want the feeling of your scent drifting over me, your chakra flowing around you, your deep emotions pushing into my own heart to be the only things I feel. I want them to be softer, less angry, less sharp and painful. I don't know why, I just do. Later, maybe it'll make sense to me, but for now I just know that this is what I want, and I'm sure it's what your brother would want too."

He blinked, remembering the depth of her soft, honey brown eyes back when she first said those words. The childish innocence was now reflected in these dark brown ones, mixed with different, new emotions that he couldn't help but feel pulled to.

"It does make sense now," she continued, "and I'll explain that some other day, when I know your heart is finally at peace. Right now, it's a hurricane in there. You'll get your chance, I promise. But if you run off now, that'd be running straight to your death." Maya's lip quivered. "I don't know if I can handle that, Sasuke. Please don't leave me…"

Before he realized it, Sasuke snorted. "You're the best liar I've ever met. Even if I was gone, you'd have Kiba," he bit back half-heartedly.

Maya smiled softly, glad that her switch was on so she could see the real meaning behind that. "We didn't kiss," she admitted finally, earning a wide-eyed look from Sasuke. "He went in for one, but didn't go through with it."

"You didn't move away," Sasuke pointed out, regaining his composure.

"That's true," she allowed, "but I don't think of him like that. You're the only one, Sasuke." Maya wanted to stop herself from saying that last sentence so bad. It slipped out before she could rethink her wording—it had sounded so innocent in her mind! She bit her lip nervously. Too late to take it back now. She turned off her switch, not wanting to hear any brutal comments about how disgusting that was, to have a demon _interested_ in him, which wasn't entirely true, it was just the way it had come out… right?

He stared blankly for a moment, and then he glanced away from her, running a hand through his hair. "Your—uh, the exam," he coughed, pointing at the time which was on the wall in the kitchen. Maya looked over, a relieved smile on her face. He didn't seem to notice anything strange. She nodded, spinning on her heel and walking out the door with a skip.

"Today, I will be a free man!" she shouted to the sky enthusiastically.

Sasuke exited the apartment, shutting the door behind him. Surprisingly, he found himself chuckling even though he didn't feel like there was a single humorous bone in his body at that moment. Seeing Maya so full of delight and anticipation, he couldn't help cheering up a little. Thoughts of Madara were still haunting him, but they'd faded to the back of his mind. She was right. Why was she so right? He'd get his chance. More time to build up hatred and anger that he could unleash in battle. If he thought about it that way, it wasn't so bad. His condition still stood, though. Maya's lose meant that he'd grab Karin, Jugo, and Suigetsu and head off to face Madara on his own terms. Secretly, he hoped she'd win without question.

While they walked to the arena, she rambled on about Hinata, the improvements she'd made in both mind and body, about the puppies she'd seen, the places she'd gone, the amazing stories she'd heard about the past Hokages, and it honestly made him forget everything but the words that were coming out of her mouth. Sasuke felt at ease with her, finding it strange even though she wasn't a cute little girl anymore. Wasn't that what had calmed him before? He was sure that this Maya wouldn't be able to fix him anymore, but she'd done it again, dispelling the worst of his intentions.

They arrived at the arena a little late. Her turn had been skipped, so the person following her was fighting a jounin at the moment. Tsunade and three others were sitting in the Kage's box of the arena, judging, but once the fight was over, the jounin went over to them and with Maya's abilities, she saw that they were discussing not only what had been seen, but the way the jounin had felt fighting the chuunin—was he pressured? Did he have to genuinely defend himself? Things like that. Maya turned off her switch before she could make herself any more nervous.

Noticing her shaking hand, Sasuke automatically grabbed it. She whipped her head to look at him with shocked eyes. He didn't even really know what he'd done until he met her gaze, and he found himself giving her a small smile. It felt like the sort of thing Itachi would've done. "You'll do fine," he promised.

Her shakes disappeared in an instant and Maya returned his smile. "Thanks," she said, just as her name was called. She slipped her fingers from his and took a deep breath, jumping down to the fighting area and facing a new jounin, not the same one the other had fought. This one had medium-length black hair that covered one of his eyes and part of the Konoha symbol on the forehead protector he wore. His clothes were standard for a jounin, and there was nothing outstanding about him—that is, except for his rude attitude. When she stepped into the arena and walked up to him, he scoffed.

"I can't believe a _demon_ has the guts to come out here in Uchiha clothes," he sneered. "What, you think you're worthy? Or maybe you're that guy's pet?" He got more excited as his insults clearly got a reaction out of her. "I wonder what sort of things he's got you doing in the Uchiha mansion of his. Cleaning in a maid's costume? Cooking his dinner when he comes home? Taking you into his room and doing what anyone would blush to hear about? Filthy demon!"

Maya was horrified that such a person existed in Konoha, but once he started getting more vulgar, fury burned in her eyes. She released her switch, the force of her anger creating a halo of red chakra around her body, making wind that blew her hair back. The jounin's eyes went so huge, they almost fell out of their sockets. Using the same technique as she had on Sasuke, Maya held the man in place. It was simple. If Sasuke had been using his sharingan, he would've seen that all she did was extend invisible chakra lines to his chakra and hold in down like that. Maya forced the man to the ground, walking over to stand over him. She smirked dangerously before looking up at the Kage box.

"Hey, how do I get a win?" she shouted.

Even with the distance, she could see the amused look on Tsunade's face. "You pass," she said. "Congratulations."

Maya grinned, flipping her switch off happily. She turned on the man who was shaking so hard that he found it difficult to stand back up. Baring her teeth in a snarl, Maya warned, "You say anything like that ever again, and next time I won't just push you down." With that, she leaped up to the Kage box to talk to the Hokage, balancing on the railing with a pleased smile back in place. "Where do I get a forehead protector? I want to prove to people like him that I'm a part of Konoha now!"

Tsunade couldn't hold back the chuckle that came from her lips. She held reached onto the seat next to her and held one out to the demon girl. "Here," she said. "I think you taught him a lesson he won't soon forget."

"Did you hear what he said?" she complained with a pout.

"Yes," laughed Tsunade. "He's really quite cheeky, isn't he?"

Maya rolled her eyes, thanking Tsunade for the forehead protector before running along the railing, jumping down to the seating level, and barreling right into Sasuke, knocking him to the ground. He make an exclamation of pain but Maya proudly held up her forehead protector, keeping him from grumbling and instead making him laugh.

"Congratulations," he said, reaching up to take it from her. "Now get off of me so we can tie this somewhere." Maya nodded enthusiastically, obeying. Once they were both standing, he looked over her.

"Shouldn't I just put in on my forehead?" she wondered in confusion. "'Cause that's what it's for…"

"Yeah, but do you really want to follow what everyone else does?"

Maya looked pointedly at his forehead protector which was displayed proudly on his forehead.

He smirked. "Okay, fine, but what about Hinata's? She wears it around her neck."

"Huh," she commented, considering this. Maya then checked herself out to see where it could go. Coming up with nothing, she glanced back up. "I'll just wear it like you. That way, everyone will see that I'm definitely part of Konoha now! Hopefully no one else will make any snide comments." She crossed her arms with a huff, turning around when Sasuke motioned for her to.

As he put on her forehead protector, Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean?"

"That guy did a little trash talking before we started," she explained, dismissing as she went on, "But whatever."

"It's not whatever," Sasuke refuted, still frowning. "You were clearly bothered by it, though I'm kind of glad you ended it so fast… The suspense would've been too much."

She sighed. "It's okay, I swear." Maya smiled reassuringly, showing that she was fine. "Look, if anyone else says things again, I'll tell you and you can go beat them up, okay?"

For a moment, Sasuke couldn't tell if she was joking or not, but he decided it was better to let it go for now. He started leading the way out, remembering his conditions for being released. They'd both be under watch and others were expected to give reports on their behavior when they went on missions, but on the outside, they were accepted Konoha ninjas. He wasn't sure if Maya knew of the discrimination they still received from the council, but it seemed like she was happy not knowing, so he didn't say anything. Besides, it was a goal of hers to be liked in this village, something he couldn't understand. If someone hated him, fine. It would probably be harder on her to be hated.

Sasuke kept a closer eye on the way people looked at her when they walked past a group of kids and their parents at a park. They all eyed them warily, even him, except that was understandable. One of the kids grinned and waved to Sasuke which he knew would be scolded for, but shockingly, the boy's mother noticed him and smiled as well. He turned away from them, listening to Maya to get his mind off it. People were supposed to be afraid. Why were they smiling cheerfully at him like he wasn't a threat? Why weren't they smiling at Maya who was so much kinder than him?

"Hungry?"

The question cut through his lament. Sasuke looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Have you been eating?" he asked, changing the topic. He was reminded of the fact that she didn't have money and probably couldn't pay for her own food.

Maya shrugged, translating to, "No, but I don't want you to know that."

Sasuke sighed disapprovingly, changing direction. "I was going to take you home, but there's nothing there anyway, right? Come over."

"What?" she gasped, faltering when he suddenly went a different way. Maya hurried to catch up. "I-I can't go to… to such an important place that's just for Uchihas… I ca—"

"Maya," he said firmly, cutting her off. Sasuke could tell immediately that she was saying that because of someone else. She would've gladly gone to the place where he and Itachi and had grown up, normally. "It's something that guy said, isn't it?"

"Doesn't matter," mumbled Maya, falling back a couple steps so she didn't have to see his face.

"You're right," he agreed unexpectedly. "So live with me. Shouldn't matter, right?"

Maya's mouth opened to protest, but that would mean revealing what the jounin had said. She closed it audibly, muttering, "Che!"

Sasuke laughed. "You know, I used to say that a lot."

"Well, you win," she said with an annoyed edge to her voice.

"It's not such a bad thing. This way, you can keep an eye on me." He seemed to be enjoying her frustration.

"Hn."

"Hey, you're turning into me!"

Maya glared at his back, only getting another laugh in return. As irritated as she was, Maya was glad that Sasuke could still laugh for now.


	15. Finale

**Chapter 15: Finale**

They arrived at the Uchiha compound and all Maya could do at first was stare in awe. She felt like it would be wrong to step forward onto such sacred ground but Sasuke's hand on her back pushed her forward, under the archway, and into the Uchiha's place. It was so empty and deserted, a place that should have been full of life and children running around while their parents looked on happily. Where had all the Uchihas gone? She bit her tongue to keep from having any visible reactions. Glancing over at Sasuke, she saw nothing there.

Sasuke took his hand away and walked on, leading her through the place to his home. He held onto the handles on the door for a moment longer than he needed to before throwing them open. He turned back to motion for her to come in, a faint smile on his lips that surprised Maya. She followed him in, sitting down cross-legged at the table that was low to the ground. "That's not how you do it," Sasuke said, sitting down across from her with his legs under him.

She blinked, mimicking him awkwardly. "It's uncomfortable," she stated with a frown.

Seeing her so clueless about Japanese culture almost made him laugh again, but the surroundings had sobered him up. He didn't feel as good as he had being outside, walking with Maya and listening to her talk. She had figured out soon enough that he was more of a listener than a talker. "You should learn how to a proper Japanese lady, a nadeshiko, from Hinata," he suggested, standing and walking over to the kitchen area. Maya started to get up, but Sasuke said, "No, don't. I'll just make some tea."

Maya got up anyway, smiling at Sasuke as she came up beside him, watching him pour water into a kettle and put it on the stove to boil. "Tea is easy," she commented. "Why are there tea ceremonies? What's so special about them?"

"Like I said, ask Hinata." She looked at his stoic face thoughtfully. When he finally turned his gaze to her, he was startled to see her staring at him so intently. "What?"

"How'd you know about Hinata? You never saw us training," she said.

He shrugged. "I heard from Naruto. He was really impressed with how well you'd done with Hinata. That's why I wanted to see you fighting."

"I didn't see that in your thoughts," Maya said accusingly, not sure if he was telling the truth.

"I wasn't thinking about that much. Saying goodbye to you pretty much consumed me," he admitted quietly. Sasuke didn't like to say things like that out loud. That was probably the first time that he wished she would turn on her powers and reach into his mind and see the truth there without having to tell her himself. But she had enough of her senses turned on to peek into his thoughts and see what he was thinking.

"It's better when you say things, anyway," she told him, hiding her smile behind her hair.

"You're sneaky."

Maya giggled, playfully ruffling reaching up to ruffle his hair. He scrunched his face up, annoyed, and grabbed her wrists. She kept her grin in place even as he turned her around, locking her in place with her own arms.

"Don't joke around in the kitchen," he scolded. She became aware of his front pressed against her back, causing her to blush and pull away. Maya stumbled forward a little when he let go, using the window above the sink as an excuse to keep her face away from him until her blush settled.

There wasn't really anything to look at, so she turned back around to ask about the tea. He just looked back at her, thinking the answer. She got an image of the kettle steaming and shrieking. Maya crossed her arms. "You could've just told me," she huffed.

Sasuke smirked. "I think it's better this way," he countered, shifting so that he leaned his back on the counter next to the stove. "This way I can talk to you without losing my cool-guy exterior."

"So you _do_ do that on purpose!"

Smile widening just a little, Sasuke shook his head in amusement. "That was a joke."

"You realize it, though, right?" she asked curiously.

"I guess," he allowed with a slight frown. Sasuke stopped talking them, closing his eyes and sending images to her. Maya took them in. Seeing past events and his straight-faced reactions, it was clear why he acted that way. The images told her, "It's easier to deal with things when you can't feel anything." But he did feel things, he just buried them deep inside, only to bundle everything into anger, the most cowardly of emotions. She bit her lip, thinking how she'd labeled herself as a coward not that long ago as well.

Then the images started shifting to newer ones. Of him with Team 7, of him visiting Karin and Jugo the other day in the hospital, talking to people of his own accord and not because he had to. The smiles in these images were a little more frequent, but of course his cocky smirks remained when he beat Naruto, as well as the stoic expressions whenever he wanted. Those cold looks were usually whenever he was alone, whenever he wasn't interacting with people, or when someone unpleasant came by. Alone, Sasuke was the young boy who left Konoha those years ago, consumed by his hatred and resentment.

He started feeding her more specific images. Times he'd spent with Maya floated between them. A set a white teeth grinned up at him; she was seeing herself from Sasuke's view. She was happily eating with Team7, laughing and talking without a care in the world. Maya caught his eye in the memory, flashing him a personal smile. With that, a surge of _goodness_ washed over him. It shocked Maya that she was able to feel this. A pulse of blackness came across her vision, causing her to stumble back.

Sasuke was alone in the middle of the compound, staring up at the night sky. A nearly-full moon shone in the sky—since that night would be the full moon, she could only guess that this memory was of the night before. Thoughts flashed through his mind then, transferred to Maya as glimpses of the suicide mission he'd planned to kill Madara. It was a weak plan with a one in a million chance of working, especially now that his cursed seal was gone and he didn't have that edge in battle.

Snapping her eyes open, Maya was back in the kitchen, looking at Sasuke's back as he poured the hot water into two mugs. She let out a heavy sigh, not sure how to feel. "You never meant to leave?" she breathed. "You… wanted me to keep you here?"

"I need _some_ sort of excuse for myself, don't I?" he muttered, barely audible. Reaching up, he opened a cupboard and pulled out a handful of sugar. Sasuke glanced at her after plopping one into his, asking with his eyes.

"Six," she said.

He raised an eyebrow.

"There's no such thing as 'sweet' in the demon world," she explained with a smile. "I like it a lot."

"Was there no 'salty', either?" he asked, and a flash of the empty soup bowls from their day out with Team 7 crossed her mind.

She laughed in embarrassment. "Very perceptive of you," Maya commended. "Yes, that's true. We had sour and that was mostly it. Although back there, I didn't need very much to survive. We could last for months on one scrap of rotting meat."

"That's disgusting," he stated.

Maya bit her lip to keep from smiling wider but it didn't completely work. She found his repulsion humorous and almost went on to articulate on more gruesome things that happened in the demon world, instead deciding to keep it to herself for now. After that, they sipped their tea in silence at the low table, Maya finishing hers much quicker than Sasuke. He seemed to find it hot as he kept blowing on it before drinking. She tilted her head in confusion.

"What's it like to you?" she questioned, leaning her elbows on the table.

He eyed her position. "That's not proper."

"Forget proper, what's the tea like to you?"

"Scalding," he answered after a moment. "Not too sweet. I like to taste the chamomile."

"So this is chamomile…" Maya gazed down into her empty cup save for some brown sludge at the bottom. Perhaps six sugar cubes were too much?

"I doubt you could taste it over all that sugar," Sasuke commented dryly, smirking her she lifted her head to glower at him.

"I could too," she shot back, sounding childish. Maya sat back on her heels like Sasuke had told her to. Her eyes wandered over him, stopping at his face and smiling, silently asking for approval. He blinked at her and nodded shortly, raising the cup to his mouth again. "Should I really ask Hinata to teach me? I mean, I don't even know what I'm going to be doing as a jounin… Maybe I should be practicing my fighting techniques, since I don't know any jutsu… or genjutsu… or hand signs…"

"I know of many people who specialize in taijutsu and get by. As long as you know how to deal with those things, it should be fine." Sasuke's black eyes peered at hers. "When you unleashed your demon abilities on that jounin, your eyes changed color."

Maya brought her hands up to her eyes in surprise, but then she realized that she couldn't see by touching them and let them drop to the table. Her hands, not her eyes. "What color?" she probed, interested.

"Red."

Her eyes flickered to the right, unable to take his burning stare. When Maya looked back, his eyes were still trained on hers. "You must've seen wrong from such a distance."

"I activated my sharingan when you started. Your eyes were definitely red," he replied confidently.

"So what?" Maya's defensiveness came from the brief images she got from him. The majority of her abilities were off, but she couldn't stop them completely, and somehow, Sasuke's thoughts got through to her much clearer. There were clips of the Uchihas that had lived in the compound, their red eyes glowing, and there were short moments where Maya was in his memories in the Uchiha clothes he'd gotten her. He was implying that she fit in as an Uchiha. Remembering what the jounin had insulted her with, Maya immediately rejected this idea. Absolutely no good would come of being so closely associated with him, not for either of them.

Sasuke watched her expectantly.

"What?" she snapped, annoyed with his assertive attitude.

"You know what."

"I'm not an Uchiha."

"You could be."

Her jaw hung open before she quickly closed it. "Do you know how _bad_ of an idea that is? I'm a demon! You don't—I don't—we—!" She stopped talking abruptly, exasperated. The words weren't coming out right because of how stunned she was. Though he hadn't said it directly, it was clear what he wanted—to rebuild the Uchiha clan with her.

"You're the perfect candidate," he went on. "I don't see why you're so against it."

"I'm a _demon_!" she repeated, eyes wide. "Why does that not immediately raise red flags for you? **DEMON!**"

Sasuke was unaffected, even smirking a little.

"You cheeky bastard," gasped Maya. He'd flashed an image of a baby with black hair and red eyes. An Uchiha, but without the sharingan. They were her eyes. "No! You'll ruin your reputation, you'll ruin your _clan_!" Her hand were flat on the table now as she leaned towards him, rising off the ground a little.

"My only goal is to bring the Uchiha name back to its rightful glory," he responded calmly.

"That, and kill Madara Uchiha," she reminded him smartly, eyebrows drawn together in… in… anger, confusion, worry. "It's too early for this, Sasuke. _Where_ is your head? First that insane plan that scared the _hell_ out of me, now you're saying you want r-repopulate?" She stumbled over the word with obvious mortification.

"You don't want to?" inquired Sasuke, leaning forward as well. Maya flinched back as his face came close to hers. He lingered for a couple more seconds before sighing and sitting back down. Sasuke didn't say another word, just looked at her, and then he got up, heading for the door. Worried, Maya scrambled to her feet, running out just as Sasuke left the house.

"Where are you going?" she yelled at his back.

He didn't turn around. "Training grounds." Hearing her footsteps approaching quickly, Sasuke spun to face her, hands casually in his pockets which would have made him seem relaxed if not for the hard expression on his face. Maya instantly backed up a step, finding that she was too close when she skidded to a halt. "Stay here. Tsunade will probably send for you in the next few hours to explain your new duties."

"Won't she be able to find me if I'm with you?" Maya pressed, not wanting to leave him alone.

Sasuke didn't react to the keen look she wore in the way she expected. He simply removed his right hand from his pocket and flicked her forehead. She blinked. "Wish I could read your mind," he murmured, leaving the compound.

Maya, rooted the ground, unwillingly letting him go. But he was incredibly right. Not even a minute after he'd disappeared, a scroll was dropped from the sky and she looked up to see a hawk flying away. Turning her attention to the scroll, she unrolled it, finding a summons that was too generalized to be addressed just to her. It read:

_Congratulations!_

_Your new status as a jounin was well-earned, Konoha shinobi._

_As you know, the Summit of the Five Kages will commence tomorrow. For that reason, the team assignments will not be dragged out._

_Please report to the Academy's Auditorium 3 at 1500. You will receive your team and information on your first mission._

_As I will not be in Konohagakure for a week at most, Shizune will be leading you on your journey to become a great jounin for the next few days._

_Be good!_

_-the Hokage_

For a moment, she was happy be to a part of something as… full of community as this. But then she remember that she didn't know where the Academy was, let alone Auditorium 3. With a sigh, Maya unleashed her abilities completely and allowed them to guide her to where Sasuke was training. She wasn't able to peek at what he was doing because he sensed her coming and stopped his actions immediately, turning to face her with sweat dripping from his forehead. It had only been about fifteen minutes since he left and he was already so tired?

"Looks like you're really pushing yourself," she said. When he just stood there and regained his breath, she frowned and went on, "I need to be at the Academy in a couple hours. I think… What time is it?" Sasuke still didn't answer. She clenched and unclenched her jaw, fighting back feelings of bitter rejection. The way he was ignoring her sort of stung.

Then he lost his composure. "It's almost 1500. Your sense of time is impossibly off."

So he only dropped the act to prove that he was better than her. "How'd you even know what time I was supposed to be there?"

"The Hokage is a bit of a scatterbrain. She probably wouldn't send things out in time to let people take their time getting there," he explained in a monotone. Maya began regretting expressing her aversion to his idea but didn't think about taking it back. She was right in her response and she would stick to it. No way would she help him with _that_. He should get a nice girl, like… like… Hinata! They could even create a much more powerful clan than he'd started with.

Of course, he could do that with Maya, too…

Maya pushed that thought away. No. The answer was no, no matter what. "Can… you show me the way?" she asked with hesitation.

His eyes burned a hole through her with their intensity. Sighing, Sasuke brought a hand up and wiped his forehead of sweat as he walked towards her. She caught sight of a wooden post and shuriken all along it in an impossibly straight line. The precision was amazing and she couldn't help but smile when Sasuke came up to her. He narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"So incredible."

"What?" he asked again, this time a little harsher.

"You." She grinned, earning a slightly confused look in his previously emotionless eyes. Sasuke was definitely unhappy, pissed, frustrated—this was what she could tell without having her abilities on full blast—but a bit of innocence crept up in the form of pride, barely noticeable if Maya hadn't seen the faint wait his eyebrows lifted a little and his lips twitched. He accepted her compliment with a short nod and then started leading her towards the Academy.

"Do you forgive me?" she questioned, following a few paces behind him.

"No."

Maya chuckled. "I thought so." Her gaze was focused on the paper fan symbol on Sasuke's back, moving slightly as he walked. "…Did I bruise your ego?"

"You're stupid."

"So what if I am? Doesn't mean you don't have to answer me."

"I don't have to answer your regardless." He was right, she realized with a groan. Sasuke faltered a little at the sound but she took no notice, her eyes leaving his back to intently examine the small rocks that lined the path they were taking towards the buildings of the village. "Aren't you looking?"

"Huh?" Maya lifted her head in surprise, his voice breaking her away from the little world she'd created for herself. "What'd you say?"

"Why aren't you paying attention?"

"To what? You're not talk—oh." She felt stupid, just like he said. Instead of using a switch this time, she used a dial, turning her abilities up until she could feel and see just enough because she didn't want to know everything. Sasuke probably wouldn't appreciate her looking too deep, since he didn't know just how far she could see.

He was telling her that his ego was as bruised as an overripe peach that had been kicked around mercilessly. Blinking to clear the thoughts away, Maya spun the dial all the way down furiously. He was teasing her! Being a sarcastic little prick! Which, of course, meant that he hadn't forgiven her and wouldn't for a while.

"Such a child," she mumbled under her breath, knowing that Sasuke heard from the way his hand twitched. Even with her abilities on low, she felt a sharp jab from Sasuke—a quick memory from his training a few minutes ago showed a dummy being brutally shredded to pieces by his rapid-fire weapons. Maya sucked in a sharp breath, honestly a little afraid of the pent-up fury he was harboring. Should she give in…?

No! Stay strong, Maya! He's being ridiculously.

Sasuke suddenly stopped in front of the rounded part of a building where a few others were filing in through a door to the far right. "There," he said without any inflections in his voice and turned around, passing by Maya so fast that she couldn't see his face. Despair rose in her throat.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled helplessly, but he just kept walking. Did she just lose him? Just from that? No, surely he'd get over it… He'd find a better girl… to… Her cheeks flushed. Maya tried to breathe evenly and once she was okay to face other people, she jogged over to the door, hoping she wasn't too late. Her bare foot passed the door and she was in, with people still trickling in after her. A brief second of silence ensued, not passing her notice, before the whispering started. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the jounin she fought leaning angrily against the wall to her right.

He looked up at her entrance, unexpectedly pushing off the wall with a cocky grin. Maya's heart jumped to her throat, the jolt of fear leaving her immobile until the last few seconds when she managed to slip into the crowd of shinobi gathered at the base of a stage to her right. Weaving through enough people to feel safe, apologizing to anyone she knocked into, Maya stood at the other end of the stage now, trying to squeeze into a spot against the wall between an older looking woman with a fluffy ponytail and a—oh jeez. The damn rude jounin had followed her!

With the eye that wasn't covered by his medium-length hair, the jounin looked her over. She balled her hands into fists, keeping her gaze forward and trying not to let him know that he'd frightened her, but that much was clear already by the way he chuckled under his breath.

"Those clothes," he said, so quietly only she could hear. "They belong to the Uchiha."

"What of it?" she hissed in reply.

"No need to be so defensive," he said smoothly, a sleazy grin on his lips. "My name is Keiro Tsuchiura. Shouldn't you be nice to someone who might soon become your teammate?"

Maya kept a straight face, imitating Sasuke.

Keiro laughed at her attempt, quickly picking up on her tightly curled hands that gave her away. "Relax," he practically whispered, leaning close to her ear. The feeling of his lips against her hair made her shiver in that weird way when someone was braiding your hair and they touched your hair too lightly. "I only said those things to get you riled up in the arena. Shinobi who are too quick to act on their emotions can either be strong… or the weakest kind of shinobi."

"Tsuchi, leave the poor girl alone," the woman with the ponytail suddenly interrupted, turning towards the two. Maya looked up at her in surprise. The woman winked at her and continued to berate Keiro, going on to say, "You just became a jounin, too! Watch yourself, or I'll have to tell Tsunade-sama about your shit again."

He laughed, a more cheerful sound than what he'd been using around Maya. "Sure, sure, nee-chan. Loosen her up while I'm gone!" he said, waving as he made his way through the crowd. Maya was incredibly confused.

"He… was messing with me?" she asked, furrowing her brow at the woman.

She clapped the younger girl on the back hard enough to nearly knock her over, but she didn't seem to notice, enthusiastically introducing herself. "Name's Anko Mitarashi, nice ta meetcha! Tsuchi's a bit of a sadist so don't worry about him."

"And the things he said to me?" Maya groped for an explanation. Was it just a lie? Had she been afraid and pushed Sasuke away for nothing?

But Anko's eyes got a little more serious, though the smile never left her lips. "You're the demon girl Sasuke brought, right?" At Maya's nod, things clicked in Anko's mind. She shook her head in amazement. "I didn't think he'd stoop to someone so vulnerable. I'll beat him up later, don't worry! Hey, it's Tsunade-sama!" Anko readily turned towards the stage, almost as if avoiding Maya's questions. She sighed, not wanting to annoy the woman further and simply paid attention to the stage.

"Good afternoon," Tsunade started, greeted by an instant chorus of 'good afternoon's from all the new jounin who had tested in the past few hours. There were maybe 50 total but the auditorium seemed smaller than a normal one. That was probably why she'd picked this one. Tsunade gave a tight smile, hushing the shinobi. "I appreciate it, but we don't have the time for such that. I only came to tell you all how happy I am that Konoha will have so many new jounin for protection while I'm away. Shizune, if you would please."

The Hokage stepped back, letting Shizune take the front of the stage. "Hello, everyone. I will be reading off the teams and once you've gathered, please sit down. That way I'll know that I can inform you of the second thing this meeting was called for. Alright." She shuffled with the microphone and some papers for a few seconds and then cleared her throat, beginning to read. Maya waited patiently for her name, but Anko had a different plan.

Turning her head to whisper back to Maya, she said, "I'm sure as hell glad Danzou isn't the one in charge. He pulled a team member of mine, and a couple more older jounin are here because they lost a teammate. In case you were wondering."

It was true that Maya had been curious as to why someone who was clearly a jounin for some time was at a meeting meant for the new jounin. "Are there usually this many at once?"

"We haven't had an official exam for a while, so no. This is last-minute since we're short and Tsunade-sama probably feels better knowing that Konoha is better protected."

"I see."

"…and Maya. Um, there's no last name, so I hope you know who you are. Anyway…"

Maya's mouth opened in disbelief. "I missed it!"

"Don't worry kiddo, I heard," Anko said, winking and nudging her lightly. Then she stuck her tongue out in playful disgust. "But I feel sorry for you. I think Tsuchi knew you were gonna be on the same team…"

"I'm with him?" Her face fell.

Anko scratched her head, closing one eye as she did. "Mmm…" she murmured, thinking. She focused back on Maya, putting a heavy hand on your shoulder. "Don't bother with him, 'kay? He's harmless. It's the girl you're with that I'm worried about."

"What's her—?" Maya started to ask anxiously, but she was suddenly pulled from Anko and spun around. Her eyes widened in shock to be face-to-face with Keiro who looked incredibly depressed.

"It's Fuuna," he said miserably, resting his forehead on Maya's shoulder as if he'd just been informed of a death in the family. "Whyyyy?" Keiro's voice had risen an octave as he whined, giving a dry sob and falling into Maya.

She struggled with the weight of him, only able to make a noise of complete astonishment followed by an unladylike grunt when she pushed him off. "What are you doing?" Maya demanded, quickly looking over to find that Anko had mysteriously disappeared. Without the support of the older, cheerful woman, she found herself a little lost.

"Our other teammate is Fuuna Souseki," he clarified, suddenly dropping the act as a smirk replaced his previous devastated expression. Keiro shifted slyly to stand next to her, draping an arm over her shoulders. "At least we can shield each other from the demon, ne?"

"Do teams not work together, Tsuchiura-san?" an icy voice cut in. Maya dragged her attention from the hopelessly confusing boy who slowly removed his arm from her to the girl that had appeared before them. She had long, pale blue hair tied into a low ponytail, bangs tucked behind her ears. She had equally pale blue eyes that might've looked like a Hyuga's if it weren't for the dark pupils in the centers. Her clothes consisted of the dark green jounin vest, long-sleeved mesh shirt underneath, and standard dark blue Konoha pants with wrappings on the small portion of her shin that showed between the pants and the similarly standard shoes. What stood out about this girl was the deep gash across the right side of her neck, disappearing into the vest that covered most of the scar anyway. It was only the way the light hit her just right that made the wound so obvious.

The girl, it was easy to assume, was Fuuna Souseki. She had the air of someone who wouldn't bat an eye if she was forced with a life-or-death situation; from the steely look in her eyes, she didn't seem the type to be on the 'death' side of things. Those pale eyes glazed over Keiro, turning to Maya. "It is ironic that you should mention such a thing shielding from a demon when one stands beside you," she pointed out without once sounding malicious… or anything else really.

Maya tried to say something, but nothing came. How could she reply to something like that?

Fuuna's eyes quickly flicked back to Keiro. He'd stood up a little straighter when she did this, causing a slight twitch of her lips not to go unnoticed by Maya. Another sadist! "I would not protest a change of team," she told him, hinting at the fact that she didn't want to be with Maya.

While this insult didn't quite compare to Keiro's, even if they had been fake, Maya felt the burn of fury in her veins. Not a second passed between her thoughts and her actions—she grabbed both of their arms and yanked down, pulling them with her into a sitting position. Keiro yelped in surprise, yet Fuuna acted as if nothing had happened. She glared at the blue-haired girl. "A team is a team," she snapped. "Live with it."

"Coming from a demon who is not even a true citizen of Konohagakure, I cannot help but find your words a little hollow," retorted Fuuna dully. Her eyes swept over Maya, making the demon girl feel horribly exposed. "But I will play your game… Maya-san. It is a shame that you do not even hold a significant name."

"Maya is significant enough," she bit back, huffily turning to Keiro who just watched the exchange with wide eyes. "Quit sitting there like a buffoon! Say something!"

"He is a buffoon," said Fuuna with a hint of amusement that made them both freeze. The girl's face showed no recognition of their reactions, only watching the two of them with unmoving eyes.

"I take offense to that," Keiro sniffed.

Fuuna examined him for a moment, just as she had Maya, then looked off to see how the other teams were doing. Most of the room had been seated with the last few making their way over to the pairs that were still standing. "You are uncomfortable around me," she said matter-of-factly, directing it to both of them despite facing a different direction.

Maya hesitated. "You're rude," she finally settled on saying, just as bluntly.

The Souseki girl's head jerked towards Maya, unabashed surprise playing across her face. It looked like no one had ever said anything like that to Fuuna, which was such a _strange_ thing that Maya couldn't help the giggle that bubbled up. She hid her mouth behind her hand, sobering when Fuuna's face quickly became ice-cold and impassive. The brief moment of actual emotion had been nice, and it was frustrating to see it leave so hastily.

"Did you see that?" Maya whispered to Keiro when Shizune started speaking again and Fuuna's attention had been taken up.

"Never seen her react to anything," he whispered back, just as impressed with the scene that had played out before him.

"Cool," she grinned, happy to have already accomplished something with her team.

"…teacher assignments! A few of you have displayed excellent leadership skills, so a select couple will be leaving their team as the jounin instructor of our new genin. Don't worry," she pressed as a collective groan was heard, "your teammates will still be your teammates. This extra duty will only be when there are no missions."

"Shouldn't she have done this before all of us were sorted into teams of three?" Keiro muttered.

"I'm sure there's a reason behind all this," Maya answered, biting her lip as soon as she finished talking. Leadership skills? Wasn't that exactly what Kakashi had said to her? A gut feeling told her that Maya would already be leaving her team as a teacher for some genin she didn't even know—or not! She had no idea about ninjutsu or genjutsu! How could she possibly teach that? As names were called once more, her heart sank.

"Again, Maya-with-no-last-name," said Shizune with a small smile. "You're the last one, and that's because you won't be leading genin. Instead, you'll be working with the chuunin Team 8, as their assigned jounin leader is due to give birth."

Stunned, Maya numbly stood up to go join the other teachers who had lined up against the far wall. Keiro whimpered when she got up but of course, Fuuna expressed no regret. Too lost in her mind, Maya didn't pay attention to the stares she got. No way! No _way_! She'd get to be with Hinata _all the time_! She refrained from cheering and skipping happily until everyone was dismissed and she nearly ran all the way home when someone grabbed her around the waist and twirling her around, eliciting a shriek from her mouth.

"Calm down!" she heard Keiro laugh, putting her down. "Sad to see you leave already, Uchiha-san."

Maya nearly choked on her own saliva. "_What?_"

"Forget it," Keiro grinned. "Anyway, at least we'll see each other on missions, right? Unless you're caught up with your chuunin, in which case I've got a friend who had both of his teammates be pulled as teachers, so me and that insufferable Fuuna will probably join up with him."

"She's not that bad," protested Maya. "You saw it—she has emotions! Work on her while I'm gone, alright?"

That prospect didn't seem to thrill Keiro too much from the way his nose scrunched up, making Maya laugh.

"I'll see you, Keiro," she said, waving as she ran off. Halfway to the Uchiha estate, Maya braked and stood panting, exhausted from the effort she'd put into running. It had taken her less than a minute to travel so far at her speed but she had felt another presence. Looking up as a scroll dropped through the sky, she saw the same hawk fly away. Curiously, Maya unrolled the scroll, immediately unhappy with its contents.

_By request of a teammate, you have been pulled permanently from your team._

_Issues as the one brought to our attention are taken seriously._

_However, your duties as the leader of the jounin team remain unchanged and equally permanent._

_See it as your punishment for harassing a member of the Souseki Clan._

_-Shizune_

_What a joke! What'd you do to Fuuna? This is pretty funny. Glad Shizune told me to write this one. Have fun with Team 8. –Anko_

Anko's note brought a faint smile to her lips, but the rest of it alarmed her. Had she really been so cruel to the Souseki girl? Surely not. It was probably her demon blood. And she thought that Fuuna had taken to her, even just a little. With a sigh, Maya walked the rest of the way to the Uchiha household where she entered the empty house and fell asleep at the low table after making herself a cup of tea with five sugar cubes.

Light had already vanished when a shuffling noise woke her. Groggily, Maya lifted her head off the table, feeling her neck protest painfully. She rolled her head around for a moment before noticing Sasuke in the doorway, smelling nice as if he'd just showered. In fact, his hair still had droplets of water in it which plopped to the ground almost with a rhythm. He didn't have a shirt on, only his black pants and a towel around his neck.

"Full moon," he said.

She gazed at him for longer than was comfortable, apparently, because he had to turn away. "Can you talk to me like a normal person today?" Maya asked softly. "I've had… I mean, today was… not good."

"What happened?" Sasuke asked almost uninterestedly, but she felt a weak spike of worry that wasn't her own and she smiled, glad when he calmly walked over and sat cross-legged in front of her at the table. Maya did the same, leaning her elbow on the table and cradling her head in her hand.

"I got a new team and was kicked off it in the same day," she told him. His eyes blinked twice to show his surprise. With a laugh, Maya nodded. "Yeah, it was kind of like blocking a punch to the face once and then getting kicked from behind."

"Interesting way of putting it."

"…" The demon girl shook her head at him. He hadn't listened to her request at all. Honestly, the way he had absolutely no emotion in his voice irritated her then, reminding her of Fuuna. She'd met her teammates and lost them so fast that it felt like a tiny burp in the span of her life. She was already starting to forget their faces, and along with their faces, their words. Maya found herself thinking back to the reason Sasuke was burning with anger underneath, and the reason she'd refused him.

Though Keiro's taunts _were_ just taunts, that didn't mean there was no truth behind them. Except now she realized that the opinions of strangers meant nothing. It was hers that really counted. People in Konoha may think that she was a filthy demon and Sasuke's personal maid who dressed in skimpy outfits for the pleasure of her master, but that meant nothing because it wasn't the truth.

Taking a breath, Maya looked Sasuke in the eye and said, "The Uchiha Clan was destroyed, but from the ashes, something greater will rise. Let's… Together, let's return your clan to its former glory—no, even greater glory, because this new clan will be laced with the powerful blood and chakra of demons."

Sasuke's eyes shone with the light of the full moon, almost hungry. "Thank you, Maya."

She nodded, biting her lip as he walked off to get dressed. Her forehead hit the table. Maya's thoughts were swimming. Had she made the right decision? In clans, she knew that it was normal for there to be arranged marriages. This would be just like one, for the sake of the clan. There were no feelings involved, just pure motivation for the Uchiha to rise once more. Maya groaned unhappily, quietly so that Sasuke wouldn't hear. She should've held strong, but Sasuke's silent fury had broken her down.

"Should've waited for The One," she grumbled. "What did I read all those romance novels for? That's right, I'll be whisked away by The One someday soon, because he loves me for me and not my demon blood…"

"You think I just want your demon blood?" Sasuke scoffed.

Maya jolted up, hitting her knee on the table and falling over in pain. Looming over her was the Uchiha boy she'd been lamenting over, smirking and offering a hand. She took it with a wary smile, letting go once she could stand up on her own. The two of them watched each other until Sasuke spoke again.

"I'd always had a suspicion that you'd be an important piece of my puzzle, even when you were in that child form. It was only when I saw your red eyes that I knew you were the only one fit to be an Uchiha." He stepped closer, backing her into the counter. His minty breath was on her cheeks as she stared up with huge eyes. They'd been this close before, but not with this buzz in her ears, not with the insatiable butterflies in her belly, not with his eyes so calm and cool yet so full of want.

"Will you be an Uchiha?" Sasuke asked, his voice husky.

"Is that a marriage proposal?" breathed Maya, unable to stop her heart from racing.

Sasuke surveyed her response for a fleeting moment before smirking confidently like only he could. "If you want it to be."

"You don't love me," she pointed out lowly, averting her eyes. "It… would be meaningless."

"Meaningless?" Sasuke echoed, sounding perturbed. His large hand was suddenly grabbing her chin, jerking her back to face him. The smirk had vanished, replaced by a serious expression that she couldn't possibly accuse of lying. Then his lips were on hers, rough and sudden and demanding and ohohohSasukeUchihaiskissingme!

Maya's legs threatened to give out when Sasuke moving his arms around her waist, holding her against him as he deepened the kiss, only to pull back in order to breathe. She gasped for breath, her pupils giant from the shock. If Sasuke hadn't been holding her, Maya was sure that she would've passed out. But all she did was clutch the countertop behind her when Sasuke's arms left her, gazing at his dark eyes. He showed nothing, only bouncing thoughts to her, which she responded to by turning her dial up to see better. They were of her red face at that few moment, of his own strange butterflies that inhabited his chest, and the abrupt kiss he'd forced on her lips.

She could sense a bit of uncertainty in him, as if he wasn't sure he should've gone so far, but Maya shook her head. "If… If it's alright with you, can we just look at the moon now?"

"You slept pretty long at the table. Why don't we stay out until you fall asleep?" he suggested so calmly that Maya almost doubted anything had just happened.

"Y-yeah, if you're willing to stay out all night…"

Sasuke flashed a smile that any of his old fangirls would've killed to see. "As long as I'm with you."

"…What will you do… about Madara?" she asked hesitantly, looking up at him with worried eyes. "You've just made a huge commitment… To your clan, that is. You're not going to go off to get killed so soon, are you?"

"I'm going to wait," he answered, putting a hand on her back and nudging her towards the door. When she still didn't seem satisfied with his answer, Sasuke leaned down and placed another, softer kiss on her lips. "I'll wait."

They walked out, lying down right in front of the house to look up at the full moon. Content, Maya curled up against Sasuke and fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>THE END!<strong>

Thanks for reading and reviewing, those who did. :) I liked this story but this is enough. The rest is left to your imaginations! On to other stories…


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